FORWARD OSMOSIS

FORWARD OSMOSIS
Forward Osmosis FO is a "green" technology that uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate water from dissolved solids. Plants and trees in nature draw water to their roots by osmosis. FO feeds on natural osmosis as solvents in water seek higher solute concentration area on the other side of the membrane.

Unlike the high pressure Reverse Osmosis (RO) process, Forward Osmosis FO pulls water molecules from the membrane with osmotic pressure differences and does not require external pump or hydraulic pressure by RO. For this reason, FO systems are better suited for filtering highly contaminated liquids, whereby FO can be used as a supplementary pretreatment in pressure operated membrane filtration.

Forward Osmosis is ideal for industrial applications where wastewater and other liquids with high levels of suspended solids and high salinity need to be filtered or concentrated. These difficulties cannot usually be solved with a single filtration process.

Forward Osmosis FO can treat wastewater through the natural osmosis process, which typically requires extensive pre-treatment. CAPEX and OPEX have been reduced as multiple pre-treatment steps have been avoided. FO membranes are highly resistant to contamination, provide long membrane life and low OPEX. When contamination occurs, simple backwashing and washing removes fillers and restores membrane performance.