The difference between RO water and ultrapure water

The main difference between RO water (reverse osmosis water) and ultrapure water lies in the purity of water quality, treatment process and application areas.

Water purity:

RO water: RO water is produced through reverse osmosis technology, which mainly removes most of the dissolved salts, heavy metals, suspended matter, bacteria and other impurities in the water. Its water quality is purer than tap water, but it may still contain a small amount of ions and organic matter, and the conductivity is generally between 10-100μS/cm.

Ultrapure water: Ultrapure water produced by ultrapure water machines has higher purity. It removes almost all impurities in the water, including all dissolved ions, organic matter and bacteria, through multiple steps such as reverse osmosis, deionization (EDI), and ultraviolet treatment. The conductivity is very low, usually less than 0.1μS/cm, or even lower, which is close to the ideal state of pure water.

Treatment process:

RO water: Reverse osmosis membrane is mainly used to filter out dissolved substances, bacteria and particulate matter in water. RO water usually also needs some basic pretreatment (such as activated carbon, sand filtration, etc.) to remove most organic matter and suspended particles.

Ultrapure water: The treatment process of the ultrapure water system is more complicated than that of RO water. In addition to RO technology, it also includes deionization (removing ions from water), conductivity removal, ultraviolet disinfection, activated carbon adsorption and other processes, so that the water is almost free of ions and other pollutants, achieving a very high purity.

Application areas:

RO water: Due to its high purity, RO water is often used for household drinking water treatment, some industrial uses and laboratory basic water treatment, but it is not suitable for use in environments with extremely high water quality requirements.

Ultrapure water: Ultrapure water is mainly used in semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, chemical analysis, laboratory research and other fields. These fields have extremely high requirements for water purity. Laboratory ultrapure water contains almost no impurities, ensuring the accuracy of experimental results and pollution-free equipment.

RO water has a high purity and is suitable for daily drinking water and general industrial uses. Ultrapure water has a higher purity and is suitable for industries with extremely high water quality requirements, such as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and scientific research.