Water treatment is essential whether you use council water or underground water. It ensures that your water is clean and safe for consumption. The first step when it comes to water treatment is filtration. Filtration traps and removes impurities in the water. One of the methods to do this is membrane filtration. But what is membrane filtration?
Membrane filtration uses semi-permeable membranes to eliminate particles and contaminants in water. It uses membrane filtration processes like microfiltration, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration to do this. Each of these processes uses membranes with pore holes of differing sizes. As a result, this allows them to separate particles based on their size. Consequently, they successfully remove contaminants like chemicals, bacteria and viruses.
Now that we’ve looked at what membrane filtration is, let’s look at microfiltration, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration. The main difference between these different membrane filtration processes is the pore size of the membranes and the types of particles they are able to remove from water.
MICROFILTRATION
Microfiltration uses a membrane with large pore holes, the size of these varies between 0.1 and 10 microns. It effectively removes suspended solids, bacteria and larger particles from the water. Generally, microfiltration is used as a pretreatment in water filtration. As a result, the larger particles are removed from the water before a finer filtration is applied.
ULTRAFILTRATION
By contrast, ultrafiltration uses a membrane with a smaller pore size. The size ranges between 0.001 – 0.1 microns. This filtration method successfully removes suspended solids, bacteria, viruses, colloids, and larger organic molecules from the water. As a result, it produces water of a higher quality that tastes and smells good.
NANOFILTRATION
And lastly, nanofiltration has a membrane with the smallest pore size that ranges between 0.001 and 0.01 microns. Nanofiltration removes most particles, viruses and bacteria and some ions. This type of filtration is used for desalination and removes trace contaminants from the water.
The type of membrane filtration process needed depends on the type of treatment the water requires.
Water filtration is essential in South Africa. All too often, we receive warnings from the Council about the quality of our tap water. This is concerning particularly for our health. Water filtration gives you the peace of mind that the quality of your water is excellent and safe for drinking.
In addition, more and more people are looking into drilling a borehole. The ever-increasing price of water is causing people to look into alternative sources of water. A borehole gives you water security. With the droughts we’ve faced in South Africa recently, water security has become essential. A borehole is a worthwhile investment and goes hand-in-hand with water filtration!
Contact us today for a water filtration & borehole drilling quote, Cape Town!