Types of Commercial Water Filters
Commercial water filters remove many contaminants on a larger scale in places like large private residences, businesses and manufacturing facilities. These systems remove contaminants such as lead that can cause severe health issues, including infertility and nerve damage.
One of the most popular types of commercial water filter is carbon, which naturally absorbs tiny impurities by attracting them into its pore channels. Another popular filtration method is UV, which kills bacteria and viruses by altering their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
Reverse Osmosis (RO)
Reverse Osmosis, or RO, is one of the most popular commercial water filter systems. It removes nearly all contaminants from your water by pushing them through a semi-permeable membrane under pressure. It is a highly effective way to remove dissolved salts, organics, bacteria, pyrogens and other contaminants from your water. An RO system can reject up to 99 percent of undesirable dissolved solids (including sodium) from the feed water.
The first stage of an RO system is prefiltration, which removes sediment and chlorine from the water. This protects the RO membrane and extends its life. An RO system has multiple stages of filtration after the initial prefilters. These include a carbon and sediment filter that polish your drinking water and reduce odors and volatile chemicals like chlorine.
As the water goes through the RO membrane, it creates two types of water: permeate and concentrate. The permeate water has most of the contaminants removed, and is often referred to as “product water.” The concentrate, also called waste or reject, contains any contaminants that cannot pass through the membrane, such as salts, heavy metals and organics. The concentrate is sent to the drain or, in some circumstances, returned to the system for further filtration.
In order to prevent fouling of the RO membrane, it is important to control feed water quality. Chemicals that are in the feed water can cause scale formation on the membrane surface, which decreases the efficiency of the membrane and increases power consumption and operating costs. This can be prevented with a pretreatment system, such as an MMF or microfiltration.
UV Filtration
UV water purification uses a UV lamp to disinfect the water by emitting a high-intensity ultraviolet (UV) light that kills harmful microorganisms. It is a safe, natural method of water treatment that does not produce any chemical by-products or alter the taste, color, or pH of the water, and it is an excellent alternative to chlorine and chloramine disinfection.
A standard UV water system consists of a quartz sleeve that encases a UV bulb along its central axis and a flow control device that prevents the water from passing through too quickly, assuring sufficient radiation contact time with the water. A flow meter is also often included to monitor the peak household commercial water filter demand flow rate and ensure that the UV system is delivering the appropriate dosage of UV for each cycle.
Because bacteria and viruses can be shielded by particles in the water, a prefilter is usually recommended for use with a UV system. This filter removes turbidity, sediment, and minerals from the water before it is treated with UV. It is important that this prefilter be able to operate at the same peak flow rate as the UV system, as this will help ensure that the UV dose remains consistent for each cycle.
UV systems can be used on their own or in conjunction with other types of filtration, such as GAC / carbon block and KDF. They are an ideal choice for homeowners who use well water, private water sources, or municipally treated water as their primary source of drinking water.
Scale Inhibitor
Scale inhibitors protect equipment from hard mineral deposits by sequestering calcium and magnesium in the pipes, which reduces or prevents scale build-up. This prolongs the life of your commercial water filtration systems.
Chemicals are typically injected into the production flow via an injection point upstream of the problem location (e.g. mixing spots, locations of significant pressure and temperature changes). They can be applied in aqueous or nonaqueous solutions, emulsions, solid impregnated on porous materials, foamed, or gelled. Recent developments include green, natural, and biodegradable products based on triglycerides, seaweed polysaccharides, soybean oil methyl ester, or silica/silicate. Some of these show promise in laboratory screening tests, but fail when used in field applications.
The retention of the injected chemicals depends on the interaction between the inhibitor and reservoir chemistry. Two mechanisms — precipitation and adsorption — are believed to be involved in this interaction [21]. In addition, the inhibitor has to be compatible with other injected chemicals, which can interfere with the effectiveness of the scale inhibitor by affecting its adsorption properties. Phosphonates, carboxylates and sulfonates are generally considered to be the least compatible with the reservoir chemistry; whereas, phosphates are most compatible.
Testing methods for evaluating the performance of the inhibitors include static bottle test, flow cell, stirred tank, and kinetic turbidity testing. Among these, the kinetic turbidity test is widely used and provides information on the formation of inhibition, the inhibitor’s adsorption properties and kinetics, and its compatibility with the reservoir fluids (e.g., adsorption level, shape of the adsorption isotherm, and pH/temperature relationships) [122].
Ion Medias
A commercial water filter can include ion medias to eliminate iron and manganese from your water supply, which reduces staining on pipes and fixtures. These types of filters are called air-based because they transport untreated water through an air dome to oxidize and precipitate the impurities. When the process is done, your water is rinsed with clean air to remove captured contaminants.
This system also features a control valve that gently releases the captured air during backwash and recycles the water through your system. This type of filtration can help reduce your energy costs and is more environmentally friendly than sand or reverse osmosis.
Typically used prior to the reverse osmosis membrane, ion exchange filters are designed to soften your water by removing hardness ions from your water. These ions can cause scale formation, which can damage your plumbing and appliances over time. Ion commercial water filter supplier exchange is often paired with UV and carbon to remove any organics and chemicals in your water, making it a comprehensive filtration solution.
These systems feature a mix of resins aEUR” cation and anion resin aEUR” that may be mixed together or kept separate that act as ion exchange media. The ion exchange media has functional groups that are positively or negatively charged, which attract and bind to ions as the water passes through the resin bed. The ions are then exchanged for hydrogen or hydroxyl ions, leaving you with pure water.