Osmosis&ReverseosmosisinDesalination Osmosisdescribeshowsolventmovesbetweentwosolutionsseparatedbyapermeable membranetoreduceconcentrationdifferencesbetweenthesolutions. Whentwosolutionswithdifferentconcentrationsofasolutearemixed,thetotalamountof solutesinthetwosolutionswillbeequallydistributedinthetotalamountofsolventfrom thetwosolutions. Insteadofmixingthetwosolutionstogether,theycanbeputintwocompartmentswhere theyareseparatedfromeachotherbyasemipermeablemembrane.Thesemipermeable membranedoesnotallowthesolutestomovefromonecompartmenttotheother,butallows thesolventtomove. Sinceequilibriumcannotbeachievedbythemovementofsolutesfromthecompartment withhighsoluteconcentrationtotheonewithlowsoluteconcentration,itisinstead achievedbythemovementofthesolventfromareasoflowsoluteconcentrationtoareasof highsoluteconcentration.

Whenthesolventmovesawayfromlowconcentrationareas,itcausestheseareastobecome moreconcentrated.Ontheotherside,whenthesolventmovesintoareasofhigh concentration,soluteconcentrationwilldecrease.Thisprocessistermedosmosis. Thetendencyforsolventtoflowthroughthemembranecanbeexpressedas"osmotic pressure",sinceitisanalogoustoflowcausedbyapressuredifferential.Osmosisisan exampleofdiffusion.. Inreverseosmosis,inasimilarsetupasthatinosmosis,pressureisappliedtothe compartmentwithhighconcentration. Inthiscase,therearetwoforcesinfluencingthemovementofwater:thepressurecausedby thedifferenceinsoluteconcentrationbetweenthetwocompartments(theosmoticpressure) andtheexternallyappliedpressure. Super... Whymovementisfromlowsolutetohighsoluteconcentration? Reason:semipermeable,pores themembraneallowspassageofwatermoleculesbutnotsaltmolecules.Onewayto understandosmoticpressurewouldbetothinkofthewatermoleculesonbothsidesofthe membrane.TheyareinconstantBrownianmotion.Onthesaltyside,someoftheporesget pluggedwithsaltatoms,butonthepurewatersidethatdoesnothappen.Therefore,more waterpassesfromthepurewatersidetothesaltyside,astherearemoreporesonthepure watersideforthewatermoleculestopassthrough.Thewateronthesaltysiderisesuntil

oneoftwothingsoccurs: thesaltconcentrationbecomesthesameonbothsidesofthemembrane(whichisn'tgoing tohappeninthiscasesincethereispurewaterononesideandsaltywaterontheother). Thewaterpressurerisesastheheightofthecolumnofsaltywaterrises,untilitis equaltotheosmoticpressure.Atthatpoint,osmosiswillstop. Theosmosiswillstopwhenthepressureofthesolventontherecievingsidegetsequaltothe osmoticpressure. Simple! Whenyouputsaltywaterinyourstomach,osmoticpressurebeginsdrawingwateroutof yourbodytotrytodilutethesaltinyourstomach.Eventually,youdehydrateanddie. pHadjustmentduringwaterpurification saltwater8.3 DistilledwaterhasapHof7(neitheralkalinenoracidic)andseawaterhasanaveragepH of8.3(slightlyalkaline).Ifthewaterisacidic(lowerthan7),lime,sodaash,orsodium hydroxideisaddedtoraisethepH.Forsomewhatacidicwaters(lowerthan6.5)the cheapestwaytoraisethepH,isbystrippingdissolvedcarbondioxide(carbonicacid)from thewater.LimeiscommonlyusedforpHadjustmentformunicipalwater,