How do you build the Best Commercial RO Membrane System?

Recently I was talking to a consulting engineer about the membrane systems we build and he said “so you don’t actually manufacture any of the components, you just assemble the system?” I was a little taken aback with this comment as this is pretty much what all membrane OEMs do. Either the engineer didn’t understand how membrane systems are put together or he had been sold on one of the few OEMs that manufacture a few of the components used to build the membrane system. I look at a bill of materials for a RO system and there are over 300 different components …… So if out of all of these an OEM manufactures the feed pump and pre-filters is that going to be a better RO system?

The beauty of being a completely independent OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) is that you can select the best available components to build a membrane system for a specific application.
You can choose a pump that is most energy efficient and perfectly sized for a skid, rather than one OEM that must use multiple feed pumps per skid because of limitations in pump sizes that it manufacturers. When new components become available, the independent OEM (typically the smaller more nimble OEMs) can quickly incorporate these into a system design to the benefit of the end user.

And next time I see a spec that says the Reverse Osmosis OEM must also manufacture the membrane I will feel sorry for the end user who will have been duped into overpaying for a product no better than what they could have bought from an independent OEM. RO membranes are a commodity and there are several suppliers such as Toray, Dow/Filmtec, Hydranautics and CSM that sell to OEMs, offer very good technical support and provide prorated warranties for the membranes of up to 5-years depending on the application. I was actually visiting a manufacturing facility of one of the aforementioned membrane companies and was surprised to see a stack of boxed membranes private labeled for an OEM who claimed to make their own membranes…. Even if the company did make its membranes, with the ability to purchase from multiple RO membrane vendors, the independent OEMs can choose the best membrane available for an application, get very competitive pricing and pass on a more economical RO system to the end user.

Smaller systems are often the biggest losers when purchasing a membrane system when they or their engineer are convinced that larger OEMs that also manufacture some of the components will provide a more reliable system with better technical service. In reality, the larger OEMs may be encumbered with outdated equipment they have to use which is more expensive than components available from other independent suppliers. And don’t start me on the technical service….Just talk to a small system that has purchased equipment from a large OEM recently and see what they say!