Benefits of Osmosis
Osmosis is fundamentally solvent movement across semi-permeable membranes, from low concentrated solutions to concentrated ones. This action has various life preserving benefits that include aiding plants get water and also helping in meat and fruit preservation. Furthermore, osmosis may also be reversed so as to eliminate salt and many other water impurities from water. More osmosis benefits have been explained further below.
1. Food preservation
For a very long time, perishable goods like olives, vegetables and fish have been conserved in brine or salt. The high concentration of salt is hypertonic to the bacteria cells, killing them through dehydration. This prevents the bacteria from causing harm to the food and spoiling it. Preserving fruits in sugar prevents them from going bad as it uses the same osmosis principle.
2. Water filtration
Osmosis, specifically reverse osmosis, is utilized for getting pure water from contaminated water. This method provides a way of removing all kinds of harmful contaminants from water. Salt from ocean water may be eliminated through placing the water in close contact with any semi-permeable membrane. It is then subjected to lots of pressure, which causes reverse osmosis to occur. The pure water molecules are pushed out of ocean water and placed in a reservoir containing only clean water.
3. Fish tank benefits
The other advantage of osmosis lies in fish tanks. In fact, aquarists regularly utilize water from reverse osmosis in their fish tanks. Mixing it together with ordinary tap water enables them attain chemical parameters such as PH or hardness needed by fish. Actually, water derived from reverse osmosis is essential for a saltwater fish tank. Some demanding freshwater fish varieties like dwarf shrimps require it also.
The process of osmosis may be harmful in some environments. For instance, when freshwater fish are placed in an aquarium of an altered salinity than the one they are used to, they will quickly die.
