General Information About Water Desalination
Less than 1% of the global fresh water supply is potable. Seawater and brackish water can be converted to drinkable water through reverse osmosis.
While osmosis is a naturally occurring process where solvent molecules spontaneously enter through a semi-permeable membrane into a higher solute concentrate, reverse osmosis purification requires an external force to occur.
Reverse osmosis desalination is a process that purifies seawater or contaminated and undrinkable water sources by forcing water through a membrane, against osmotic pressure, leaving contaminants behind. The result is water devoid of dissolved salts and harmful content.
The seawater membranes used in desalination systems remove salt, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and cysts, from the raw water. This produces fresh and potable water. Because of this, reverse osmosis is one of the most absolute purification processes, and is used by militaries, hospitals, and communities worldwide.
| Family | Known germs | Size range | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Viruses Hepatitis A, Norwalk Virus, Rotavirus, Poliovirus ~0.02 – 0.2 microns |
Hepatitis A, Norwalk Virus, Rotavirus, Poliovirus | ~0.02 – 0.2 microns |
 |
Bacteria E-coli (Escherichia coli), Salmonella (Salmonella typhimurium), Cholera (Vibrio cholerae) 0.2 – 5 microns |
E-coli (Escherichia coli), Salmonella (Salmonella typhimurium), Cholera (Vibrio cholerae) | 0.2 – 5 microns |
 |
Protozoans Amoeobiasis (Entamoeba histolytica) 1 – 15 microns |
Amoeobiasis (Entamoeba histolytica) | 1 – 15 microns |
 |
Cysts Giardia lamblia (Giardia intestinalis), Cryptosporidium (Cryptosporidumparvum) 1–<1 microns hdd |
Giardia lamblia (Giardia intestinalis), Cryptosporidium (Cryptosporidumparvum) | 1–<1 microns hdd |