as it is referred in the industry, its pores are on the order of .0005 microns or .0000002
(two ten-millionths) of an inch! That's smaller than can be seen by the best optical microscopes.
Second, it removes dissolved impurities (e.g. mineral salts, toxic metals) those even smaller than the water molecules themselves by a remarkable phenomenom known as Reverse osmosis. With RO, the membrane is said to reject these impurities by repelling them from its surface. It is however permeable to the water molecules so that they diffuse through in a pure state and collect on the opposite side to make the product water.
RO's claim to fame:
The real claim to fame for reverse osmosis membranes is their ability to remove and reject such a wide spectrum of impurities from water and they do it with very minimal energy usage. In fact , it just requires water pressure. With the exception of distillation, RO is the only known process which can effectively remove the following types of impurities :
- Particulate matter, turbidity, sediment, etc
- Colloidal matter
- Total disolved solids
- Toxic metals
- Radioactive elements
- Microorganisms
- Fluoride / fluorine
- Asbestos
- Pesticides and herbicides
- Heavier organic molecules
