The History of Reverse Osmosis
Written by: Gene Fitzgerald // Last Updated: Sep 26, 2023
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Reverse osmosis has a fascinating history spanning a few hundred years!
RO is utilized in so many behind-the-scenes processes that you’d be surprised how much we rely on it.
Let’s look today at the history of this fascinating scientific process.
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Key Takeaways
- 1748 – French physicist and clergyman Jean-Antoine Nollet observed the process of osmosis using a pig’s bladder as a semi-permeable membrane.
- 1949 – The University of California, Los Angeles started using osmosis and special filters to try and remove salt from seawater.
- Mid-1950s – Teams from the University of California and the University of Florida made fresh water from seawater.
- 1959 – Two UCLA researchers developed a functional synthetic reverse osmosis membrane from cellulose acetate polymer.
- 1965 – The first commercial RO plant was built in Coalinga, California.
- 1969 – Dean Spatz and Chris Miller developed a prototype for an RO purification system, which led to contracts from the Department of the Interior to create low-pressure RO systems.
- 1977 – Cape Coral, Florida, became the first US municipality to use RO on a large scale, with the ability to produce 3 million gallons of fresh water per day.
- 1985 – Due to rapid growth, Cape Coral operated the world’s largest low-pressure RO plant, producing 15 million gallons of fresh water daily.
- 2001 – Over 15,000 plants worldwide were either already using this method or planning to.
- 2019 – Around 16,000 desalination plants operated globally, producing approximately 95 million cubic meters of water daily.
The History of Reverse Osmosis – How It Started
The history of reverse osmosis is a long one. For 200 years, osmosis was just something scientists saw happening in labs. But in 1949, the University of California in Los Angeles started using osmosis and special filters to try and take the salt out of seawater. Teams from the University of California and the University of Florida made fresh water from seawater in the mid-1950s. Still, it was too expensive to do on a big scale because of the high energy needed (referred to as high flux). Then, John Cadotte, from FilmTec Corporation, figured out how to make filters that could do this more efficiently. By 2001, there were over 15,000 plants around the world either already using this method or planning to.
The Discovery of Osmosis
In 1748, a French physicist and clergyman named Jean-Antoine Nollet made a ground-breaking discovery in his laboratory. He observed the process of osmosis using a pig’s bladder as a semi-permeable membrane, a kind of barrier that only allows certain things to pass through it.
Nollet demonstrated that a liquid, or ‘solvent’, could move from an area with less solute (like pure water) to an area with more solute (like alcohol), passing through the membrane until there was an equal solvent concentration on both sides. This movement occurs naturally due to a force known as osmotic pressure.
This phenomenon, known as osmosis, is not just restricted to laboratory experiments. It’s a natural process occurring in nature for millions of years and plays a crucial role in our bodies daily.
The Discovery of Reverse Osmosis
After laying dormant for two centuries, the study of osmosis gained renewed interest in the late 1940s thanks to American researchers. Motivated by the Kennedy administration’s mission to find methods of desalinating seawater, this fascination was fanned into flames. In 1959, two brilliant minds from UCLA, Sidney Loeb and Srinivasa Sourirajan, crafted a practical, synthetic reverse osmosis membrane using cellulose acetate polymer.
This membrane allowed water molecules to pass while rejecting salt and total dissolved solids (TDS), creating purified, drinkable water. Dubbed reverse osmosis because it worked contrary to the natural osmotic process, this technology became the foundation for desalinating seawater.
The first commercial RO plant was built in Coalinga, California, in 1965 under the guidance of Joseph W. McCutchan and Sidney Loeb. This pilot program drew global attention, and other pilot programs were soon established in places like La Jolla and Firebaugh, California.
In the mid-1950s, researchers at UCLA and the University of Florida also desalinated seawater, but their methods weren’t commercially viable. However, they discovered techniques for making asymmetric membranes, which led to significant advancements in the field. By 2019, around 16,000 desalination plants operated globally, producing approximately 95 million cubic meters of water daily.
A student project at Thayer sparked a multi-million dollar RO industry. Dean Spatz and Chris Miller developed a prototype for an RO purification system, which led to contracts from the Department of the Interior to create low-pressure RO systems. Spatz co-founded the RO company Osmonics in 1969.
Cape Coral, Florida, became the first US municipality to use RO on a large scale in 1977. Rapid growth led the city to operate the world’s largest low-pressure RO plant by 1985, producing 56.8 million liters daily.
Timeline Summary:
- Late 1940s: Renewed interest in osmosis study.
- 1959: Development of the first functional synthetic RO membrane.
- 1965: The world’s first commercial RO plant was built in Coalinga, California.
- 1969: Co-founding of Osmonics, an RO company.
- 1977: Cape Coral, Florida, becomes the first US municipality to use RO on a large scale.
- 1985: Cape Coral operates the world’s largest low-pressure RO plant.
- Mid-1950s to 2019: Significant advancements in desalination techniques, leading to the operation of 16,000 plants globally.
Applications of Reverse Osmosis Through the Years & Today
Reverse osmosis has been a crucial technology in water treatment since its inception. Despite improvements over the years, many RO systems sold today are still based on designs from the 1980s. However, the technology has seen significant advancements that have made it more efficient and useful.
In 1969, DuPont patented its Permasep RO element, a reverse osmosis membrane for treating brackish water. This technological leap revolutionized industrial water treatment. The next major enhancement came from isobaric energy recovery devices, which allowed seawater RO plants to reduce their energy consumption and costs by capturing and reusing the energy in the pressurized waste brine. By 2010, energy costs were around one-fifth, and operating costs were about one-tenth of those in the 1970s.
Fast forward to 2009, after nearly two decades of little innovation, a new RO process known as Closed Circuit Reverse Osmosis (CCRO) was introduced. Unlike traditional RO systems, CCRO operates in batch mode with an internal re-circulation loop, flushing out contaminants every half-hour. This approach provides better control over the process, improves recovery rates, and enhances resistance to fouling and scaling.
Today, RO is used in thousands of different processes and applications worldwide, from providing clean drinking water in cities and small countries to filtering water in homes. As clean natural water sources become increasingly scarce, the importance of RO technology continues to grow. Currently, reverse osmosis accounts for 80% of the desalination plants worldwide. The technology has provided solutions to water shortages globally and paved the way for cost-effective water filtration methods.
With a rapidly increasing population and the constant threat of water scarcity, RO is indeed one of the most pivotal scientific achievements in recent history. The world’s largest RO desalination plant is ACWA Power’s Rabigh 3 Independent Water Plant (IWP) in Saudi Arabia, producing 600,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day.
Pharma Industry
Using water sanitized through reverse osmosis is particularly beneficial in the production of pharmaceutical products. This is attributed to the fact that such water typically lacks ionic pollutants that could modify the chemical makeup of these products.
Reverse osmosis technology offers trustworthy and efficient solutions for the purification of feed water, the production of purified water, and the generation of injection-grade water. It guarantees the elimination of impurities, contaminants, microorganisms, and dissolved solids, thereby aligning with the stringent water quality standards the pharmaceutical industry sets.
The role of reverse osmosis extends to curbing contamination, preventing biofilm formation, and maintaining consistent water quality, collectively ensuring pharmaceutical products’ safety and integrity. RO water complies with regulatory guidelines and enhances the overall quality of pharmaceutical products.
Microelectronics
Semiconductors and other metallic materials commonly rely on purified water obtained through the process of reverse osmosis. This highly purified water is essential for various operations, including metal finishing techniques like electroplating and galvanization. It ensures optimal performance and prevents any potential damage to the semiconductor products.
Implementing RO filtration systems to purify the water used in manufacturing guarantees that the water meets the necessary quality requirements. By relying on RO filter systems, the semiconductor industry maintains high standards of water cleanliness, safeguarding product quality and efficiency.
Further Reading:
Food and Beverages
- The food and beverage industry uses reverse osmosis to concentrate liquids such as fruit juices. This process offers significant advantages over conventional heat treatment, particularly for heat-sensitive substances like proteins and enzymes.
- In the dairy industry, RO is vital in producing whey protein powders and milk concentration. After cheese manufacture, the residual liquid or whey is concentrated using RO from 6% solids to between 10 and 20% solids before undergoing ultrafiltration processing. The resulting concentrate produces whey powders, including whey protein isolate.
- The wine industry, which once shied away from RO, now embraces it widely. In fact, by 2002, around 60 RO machines were operational in Bordeaux, France, with elite firms like Château Léoville-Las Cases among their users.
- RO has also revolutionized maple syrup production. Since 1946, some producers began using RO to extract water from sap before boiling it into syrup. This method removes 75-90% of the water, thereby reducing energy consumption and limiting the syrup’s exposure to high temperatures.
- Finally, RO is also used in the production of low-alcohol beer. When typical beer undergoes RO, water and alcohol, pass through the membrane more readily than other ingredients, leaving behind a “beer concentrate.” This concentrate is then diluted with fresh water to restore the non-volatile components to their original intensity.
Water Desalination
Regions with scarce surface or groundwater often resort to desalination for water supply. Reverse osmosis is a popular method due to its relatively low energy usage. In 2011, according to the International Desalination Association, 66% of the installed desalination capacity came from RO, and it was the preferred choice for most new projects. Other methods include thermal distillation techniques like multiple-effect distillation and multi-stage flash.
Sea-water reverse osmosis (SWRO) is a specific type of desalination that treats seawater. Up to half of the seawater treated can be recovered as fresh water. Brackish water reverse osmosis is another form of desalination that treats water with less salt than seawater. This process is similar to SWRO but operates at lower pressures and thus requires less energy. Depending on the salinity of the feed water, up to 80% can be recovered as fresh water through BWRO.
Water Recycling
Reverse osmosis is utilized in numerous commercial industries to treat the wastewater generated during manufacturing. This method not only safeguards the environment against contamination but also helps conserve water that can be utilized for alternative purposes.
What Is Reverse Osmosis?
Reverse osmosis uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate water molecules from other substances. By applying pressure, RO can overcome the natural tendency of molecules to spread out evenly, known as osmotic pressure. This process can remove various substances, including dissolved or suspended chemicals and biological materials. The key to this process lies in the RO membrane, which allows smaller molecules (like water) to pass through while larger ones are retained.
The effectiveness of RO depends on factors like pressure, solute concentration, and other conditions. It requires different pressures depending on the type of water being treated – 2–17 bar for fresh and brackish water and 40–82 bar for seawater. The pore sizes of the membranes vary, and RO falls into the last category, known as hyperfiltration, which removes particles larger than 0.1 nm.
If you have any questions about the history of RO please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!
About the Author Gene Fitzgerald
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