What is the full form of RO, UV, and UF in Water Purifier

RO: Reverse Osmosis

UV: Ultraviolet

UF: Ultrafiltration

RO

RO stands for Reverse Osmosis. It is a process that helps RO water purifier remove unwanted ions, dissolved solids and TDS from the water. Reverse osmosis is the opposite of osmosis. In osmosis, solvent passes through a semi-permeable membrane from a less concentrated solution to a more concentration solution. In reverse osmosis, the solvent passes through the semi-permeable membrane in the opposite direction (from more concentrated solution to low concentrated solution). The pressure required to move solvent (water) from more concentration solution (tap water) to low concentration solution (purified water) is generated by the pump of the RO water purifier.

UV

UV stands for Ultraviolet. In RO water purifiers, the reverse osmosis process can remove the dissolved solids and ions but cannot kill the bacteria or germs present in the water. The UV rays can kill such bacteria and germs. So, in most of the RO water purifiers, the water is made to pass through the UV radiation source tube. It exposes the water to UV radiations that kills the harmful bacteria and germs.

UF

UF stands for Ultrafiltration. It is a type of membrane filtration used in UF water purifiers. In this technique, the water is made to pass through a hollow fiber threaded semi-permeable membrane. The large suspended particles and solutes are retained and water passes through the membrane. The UF occurs before the RO filtration, before the water enters the water purifier. It reduces the load on RO membrane and increases the life of membrane.