How Do Water Purification Systems Actually Work? You'll Know After Reading This!
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How Do Water Purification Systems Actually Work? You'll Know After Reading This!
Views: 1 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-12-15 Origin: Site
Do you know what’s really in the water you drink every day? Besides water molecules, it contains a variety of substances — some beneficial, like minerals and trace elements, and others harmful, such as bacteria, heavy metals, pesticides, and residual chlorine. With the growing severity of water pollution, can we really be sure the water we drink is safe?
To ensure the safety and health of drinking water, many people turn to water purification systems to filter out harmful substances and provide cleaner drinking water. But how exactly do these systems work?
This article will explain the working principles of water purification systems in detail, helping you understand the science and technology behind water treatment.
Key Components of a Water Purification System
A typical water purification system usually consists of the following core components:
Pretreatment Filter
It removes large particulate impurities from water, such as sediment, rust, and suspended solids. Its primary role is to protect subsequent filters from clogging or damage.
Ultrafiltration (UF) Membrane
It eliminates microorganisms, colloids, and organic matter from water, with a filtration precision of 0.01 microns. It can effectively trap bacteria, viruses, and other harmful microbes.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) Membrane
It targets dissolved inorganic substances, heavy metals, pesticides, and residual chlorine in water, boasting an ultra-high filtration precision of 0.0001 microns. It can block calcium and magnesium ions, chlorides, nitrates, and other tiny contaminants.
Post-treatment Filter
It further enhances water taste and hygiene, and commonly includes these types:
Activated Carbon: Removes odors, pigments, and organic matter from water, increases dissolved oxygen levels, and improves water activity.
Water Softening Resin: Eliminates hardness-causing ions like calcium and magnesium, preventing limescale buildup and protecting faucets, kettles, and other appliances.
Mineralization Balls: Adds essential minerals and trace elements (e.g., potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium) to water, balances water pH, and boosts its nutritional value.
UV Light: Kills residual bacteria and viruses in water, ensuring hygiene safety and extending water shelf life.
The core working principle of water purification systems is to use various physical, chemical, or biological methods to remove harmful substances from water, improving water cleanliness and usability. Here’s a breakdown of the most common filtration principles:
Ultrafiltration is a purely physical filtration method, using a membrane coated with one or more layers of micro-pores (typically around 0.01 microns in diameter). Only water molecules and small-molecule substances can pass through these pores, while large-molecule contaminants like bacteria, colloids, and organic matter are trapped.
UF operates by leveraging water pressure differences, pushing water from the high-pressure side to the low-pressure side to separate water from impurities. Its advantages include no need for electricity, zero wastewater discharge, and retention of beneficial minerals and trace elements in water. However, UF cannot remove heavy metals, chemical pollutants, or limescale-causing ions.
Reverse osmosis is a high-efficiency filtration method, using a semipermeable membrane composed of one or more layers. The membrane’s unique property allows only water molecules to pass through, blocking almost all other substances — including dissolved inorganic matter, heavy metals, pesticides, and residual chlorine — with a filtration precision of 0.0001 microns.
RO works by using a high-pressure pump to force water from the low-concentration side to the high-concentration side, reversing the natural osmosis process and achieving separation of pure water from contaminants. Its biggest advantage is the ability to remove nearly all pollutants, providing ultra-pure drinking water. On the downside, it requires electricity to power the high-pressure pump, generates wastewater during the filtration process, and removes beneficial minerals and trace elements along with contaminants.
