What is a common metric for assessing treatment efficiency in reverse osmosis?

Percent rejection is a critical metric for assessing treatment efficiency in reverse osmosis systems. This measurement indicates the effectiveness of the membrane in removing contaminants from the feed water. Percent rejection is calculated by comparing the concentration of a particular substance in the feed water to its concentration in the permeate, or the water that has passed through the membrane.

A higher percent rejection value signifies that the membrane is effectively filtering out more impurities, which is essential for determining the overall efficiency of the reverse osmosis process. This metric is particularly important as it provides insight into the specific performance of the membrane under operational conditions, thus helping operators understand whether the system is functioning as intended.

While flow rate, percent recovery, and filtration quality are all relevant in the broader context of reverse osmosis operations, percent rejection directly reflects the membrane's performance in contaminant removal, making it the most relevant metric for treatment efficiency assessment.