RO vs UV vs UF vs MF – The Only Information You Will Ever Need
Planning to buy a new water purifier for your home? Confused about all the technical terms?
You are not alone.
Most brands suffer from ‘I am the best’ syndrome and they focus more on marketing than providing actionable information.
This has given birth to all the confusion that you have in your mind right now.
Now that you have done all the hard work of landing on this page, let us do the rest.
This post will explain the difference between RO, UV, UF, and MF in simple terms.
Choosing the right water purifier for your home is extremely important in order to ensure good health. And the first step in choosing the right purifier is understanding the quality of water and selecting the suitable water purification technology.
We’ve already covered a detailed guide on how to choose the right water purifier for your home.
In this previous post, we’ve covered detailed information on identifying commonly found impurities in water and mapping the right water purification technologies according to the water quality.
This post will try to explain all the common water purification technologies like RO (Reverse Osmosis, UV (Ultraviolet), UF (Ultra Filtration), and MF (Micro Filtration), and the difference between them.
Knowing the difference between the RO, UV, UF, and MF water purification technologies will further help you in choosing the best water purifier that is most suitable for your home or office.
Another popular terminology used with water purifiers is TDS, you can learn all about the TDS level of water in our previous post.
What is the Full Form of RO UV UF and MF
- RO Full Form – Reverse Osmosis
- UV Full Form – Ultraviolet
- UF Full Form – Ultra Filtration
- MF Full Form – Micro Filtration
RO vs UV vs UF vs MF – Difference Between the Main Water Purification Technologies
| RO Purification | UV Purification | UF Purification | MF Purification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Needs electricity for purification | Needs electricity for purification | Does not need electricity | Does not need electricity |
| Filters out all the Bacteria and Viruses from the Water | Kills all bacteria and viruses but their dead bodies remain in the water | Filters out all the Bacteria and Viruses from the Water | Filters out only bacteria |
| Requires high water pressure. Therefore an extra water pump is used in all RO purifiers | Works with Normal Tap Water Pressure | Works with Normal Tap Water Pressure | Works with Normal Tap Water Pressure |
| Removes dissolved salts and harmful heavy metals | Cannot remove dissolved salts harmful heavy metals | Cannot remove dissolved salts harmful heavy metals | Cannot remove dissolved salts harmful heavy metals |
| Filters out all the suspended and visible impurities like mud, rust, dirt, sand etc. | No filtering | Filters out all the suspended and visible impurities like mud, rust, dirt, sand etc. | Filters out all the suspended and visible impurities like mud, rust, dirt, sand etc. |
| Size of membrane: 0.0001 Micron | No membrane | Size of membrane: 0.01 Micron | Size of membrane: 0.1 Micron |
| 90% TDS reduction | 0% TDS reduction | 0% TDS reduction | 0% TDS reduction |
| Wastes a lot of water | No wastage of water | No wastage of water | No wastage of water |
The below image visually depicts the filtration/purification characteristics and capabilities of MF, UF, and RO membranes.
Looking at the image above, one would naturally think, if RO alone can remove all impurities then what is the need of other purification methods like UV, UF, and MF?
We will get to this in a second.
If you look at the comparison of purification technologies above, none of the UV, UF, or MF offer complete protection against all commonly found impurities. So, it is quite clear that none of these three purification technologies can alone provide trustworthy purification.
Now, coming back to the RO purification.
The pores of the RO membrane are extremely small (0.0001 microns) and the RO membrane is prone to damage and choking if appropriate pre-filtration is not used. This is why you see most RO purifiers using 2-4 pre-filters like a pre-sediment filter, sediment filter, Pre Carbon Filter, etc.
RO water purifiers also need appropriate post-treatment like UV column, post-carbon filter, mineralizer, etc. All these post-RO filtrations and water treatments are usually added to be 100% sure of the purification and to remove any organic and inorganic impurities still left in the water. RO membrane can also change the taste of water and make it taste bitter and unnatural. Because of this post-RO activated carbon filters, a taste enhancer, or mineralizer cartridges are used.
So what we are trying to bring out here is, for reliable purification and pure water what is needed is a combination of multiple purification technologies.
We would not like to unnecessarily stretch this post long and would like to end with our final thoughts with this.
Final Thoughts
It is not advisable to rely on any single purification technology as every purification technology has its pros and cons. What is needed is a multi-stage purification approach that uses multiple purification methods.
That is why we recommend water purifiers that feature a combination of RO, UV, UF with a TDS controller/modulator or Mineralizer. These water purifiers are suitable for most Indian homes.
Hope you found this detailed explanation, of the difference Between RO, UV, UF, and MF water purifiers, useful.
If you still have any queries or would need some more information then please post them in the comments section below, and we’ll be happy to answer 🙂
TDS level is around 400. Please do suggest me which is the best water purifier?
The ideal water purifier for your home is an RO+UV purifier. You can check this list of top RO+UV water purifiers.
Hi Sir,
As per job needs, we will shift, in the present home, the TDS is nearly 1000. I want to purchase a new water purifier. I have gone through your article it is really good. When I went to showrooms to purchase a water purifier they are explaining only brands which they are having more margin or profit. Can you please suggest me one good brand along with model which is suitable for all the areas?
As in the case of most things, ‘One Size Doesn’t Fit All’, the same is the case with water purification technologies. The choice of a water purifier entirely depends on the source and quality of water. We have no idea of how good or bad the water quality will be in a place where you might move in the future.
For the current scenario, a purifier with at least RO+UV purification is ideal. Please provide your budget, so we can suggest a product accordingly.
Sir, I am Vijay working in govt office, I am confused in selecting the right water purifier for our home, if I focus on purifier which doesn’t waste water, there comes the problem of retaining essential minerals, on the other hand, if I Focus on purifier retaining essential minerals it may cause excessive waste of water. So my point is a purifier which should purify with less wastage of water along with retaining essential minerals. So hope you understand my both point and help me choose the right water purifier below 15000 rupees
Before we can suggest anything, please let us know the source and TDS level of the water at your home.
What is the TDS level one should maintain in the Drinking Water. Please Confirm..??
There is no official limit for the minimum TDS level. The purity and safety of water do not only depend on TDS level. It all depends on the source of water and individual constituents that make up the TDS level. If the water does not contain any harmful heavy metals like Lead, Arsenic, etc. then the purified water should ideally have a TDS level between 50 to 150 ppm.
TDS level of borewell water at my place is 323ppm so UV+UF is sufficient for us. Or Do we need RO?
TDS level is not the only criterion. Ideally, you should get your water tested from a Govt. certified water testing lab. And if the water does not contain any harmful impurities like Lead, Arsenic, etc. then you can use a UV+UF purifier.
TDS level at my home is more than 1000 ppm, Please suggest which technology is best for healthy and safe water
PS : I am not considering TDS COntroller product
You can go for RO+UV+UF technology.
Dear Sir,
I found your article on water purification very useful and easy to understand, however, I came across this article after buying my water purifier which does not have a UV mechanism, it is HUL Pureit advanced plus RO MF MP, in your article you didn’t mention anything about MP, I want to know what is MP stands for and if this RO MF MP combination is ok, kindly help with my confusion.
Thanks
Unfortunately, we’ve not reviewed this product. But we did some research to answer your query. MP stands for ‘Membrane Protector’. This is nothing but an additional filter just before the RO membrane. It filters out the remaining fine and coarse particulate impurities/dirt and improves the life of the RO membrane.
TDS at my home is 80, What would be the best combination of water purifiers I should buy?
The TDS is already very low. The ideal water purifier for your home would be a UV+UF water purifier.
TDS level is 155. Is UV+UF sufficient? How to check if the water contains heavy metals?
Yes, for this TDS level UV+UF is the ideal purification technology. Unfortunately, there is no easy or cost-effective way to test for heavy metals at home.
The best way is to get the water sample tested in a water testing lab. If you can’t find any water testing lab in your city then you may also use a water test kit like this one.
Hi, Is pureit max water save 10L with Ro+UV+MF good for health
Borewell water TDS at my home is 700. What would be the best combination of water purifier I should buy?
Looking at the TDS level and the water source, we recommend going for a RO+UV+Mineralizer water purifier.
Do we need sand filter if we are using UF (sand filter does not need maintenance and it will work as pre-filteration for UF) ?. And if we do not use water softner then will RO membrane prone to damage fast( so can we think water softner will reduces work of RO so RO life will be extent)?. what is nano-filteration and antioxidant technology?.
A Pre-filter filters out the comparatively larger physical impurities like sand, dust, and dirt. It improves both the performance and life of all the internal filters and membranes. A water softener is generally not required as long as the TDS level is not excessively high.
In order to provide an answer, we request you to kindly provide the TDS level of your water.