What Is the Full Form of “RO Water” and What Does It Stand for?
Written by: Alexandra Uta // Last Updated: May 1, 2023
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With drinking water safety being a growing concern in the USA, you may have heard about something called RO water, a supposedly safer alternative to regular drinking water.
But what on earth is the full form of RO water and what does it stand for?
Let’s find out!
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Key Takeaways
- RO water is an abbreviation for reverse osmosis water. Reverse osmosis water is water that has undergone a purification process known as reverse osmosis.
Abbreviation: What Is the Full Form of “RO Water”?
So, what is the full form of RO water? RO water is an abbreviation for reverse osmosis water.
Reverse osmosis water is water that has undergone a purification process known as reverse osmosis. This process uses a semi-permeable membrane to filter out impurities from drinking water.
RO technology is designed to reduce or eliminate a wide range of contaminants such as lead, nitrate, and fluoride from drinking water sources.
What Does “RO Water” Stand for?
As mentioned above, RO water stands for reverse osmosis water, which is the end product of a reverse osmosis water purification process.
RO water is highly pure water.
What Is Reverse Osmosis Water Purification and How Does It Work?
Reverse osmosis water purification is a process that uses pressure to force water through a semi-permeable membrane. This reverse osmosis membrane has pores that are 0.0001 microns in size, and most contaminants in the water are too large to pass through. Only clean and safe drinking water diffuses through the RO membrane to the other side.
It is important to differentiate between reverse osmosis and a reverse osmosis system. Reverse osmosis is simply the filtration of water through a reverse osmosis membrane. A reverse osmosis system contains a reverse osmosis filtration step, along with various other pre and possibly post-filters, which protect the reverse osmosis membrane and make water purification even more thorough than reverse osmosis would be capable of on its own.
The pre-filtration steps are usually a sediment filter and an activated carbon filter to remove coarse dirt as well as chlorine and other such chemicals. The post-filtration steps are a carbon filter to condition the water, and sometimes a remineralization filter to add healthy minerals back into the filtered water.
A decent reverse osmosis purification system can remove the following:
- Sediments
- Disinfecting agents like chlorine and chloramine
- Volatile organic compounds
- Nitrogen
- Pesticides
- Herbicides
- Heavy metals
- Salts and minerals
- Microorganisms
Further Reading:
RO Water Benefits
Drinking water that has been purified with a reverse osmosis system can result in numerous benefits.
Healthy drinking water that is free from contaminants is the most obvious one. Even if your municipal water is deemed safe for human consumption, that does not mean it is free of all pollutants. Chlorine often remains, as do other chemicals and some heavy metals that can accumulate in the human body over time.
Other benefits you may find after installing a reverse osmosis system at home include the following:
- Better tasting water, as any compounds causing unpleasant tastes and smells in the water have been removed.
- Better tasting food, as you will only be cooking and washing your vegetables with pure H20 that doesn’t contain any odd tastes or smells.
- Improved hydration, as better tasting water, often means you will drink more of it.
- No single-use plastic water bottles. Reverse osmosis filtration eliminates the need to purchase and consume bottled water.
- Water that is free of the microplastics contained in bottled drinking water.
- Removes salt from softened water, resulting in a lower intake of dietary sodium.
If you have any thoughts about the question, what does RO water stand for, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!
About the Author Alexandra Uta
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