What are the advantages and disadvantages of osmosis?

Answer 1

Advantages

• Reverse osmosis systems have plenty of advantages. They are friendly to the environment, as they do not produce or use any harmful chemicals during the process. These systems also require a minimal amount of power. Reverse osmosis systems work well in home filtration systems because they are typically small in size.

  Taste of the purified water is another distinct advantage. Reverse osmosis removes dissolved minerals and other contaminants that cause water to smell unpleasant, taste poorly and take on unusual colors.

  Removal of dissolved minerals, metals and other particles benefits Plumbing systems. There is nothing in the water to corrode pipes or collect as sediment.

Disadvantages

• Reverse osmosis treatments require an enormous amount of water. Such systems typically return as little as 5 to 15 percent of the water pushed through the system, which means it also takes a long time to properly treat the water. What's left then exits the system as wastewater. This amount of wastewater can burden home septic systems. Water entering the reverse osmosis system should also be free of bacteria. While reverse osmosis systems do remove nearly all microorganisms, the risk of contamination through tiny leaks or deteriorating parts prevents reverse osmosis systems from being used to remove bacteria.