KENT'S MINERAL ROTM TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT SCENARIO OF DRINKING WATER IN MALAYSIA
The quality of drinking water is deteriorating day by day. It is no longer as pure as it was during our forefather’s time. Primary reasons why tapwater may no longer be safe for human consumption are :
- Climatic changes, draughts, rampant and uncontrolled industrialization has led to alarming levels of waste being disposed into our water sources such as rivers, water reservoirs and ground well water.
- Ageing pipeline network and poor maintenance results in water getting contaminated by the time it reaches our homes.
Due to ever increasing pollution levels, the water sources are under dire stress and are getting contaminated with dissolved impurities, bacteria, viruses and cyst.
Since the demand for municipal water is greater than the supply and due to the onset of multi-storied buildings and condominiums, the practice of storing water in overhead tanks has become more common.
These storage tanks are not airtight and are also not cleaned thus they become breeding grounds for unwarranted harmful microorganisms like bacteria and viruses.
With increased reliance on pesticides and insecticides in our agricultural industry in Malaysia, these harmful chemicals, when used excessively, percolate into the ground well water as well as get washed away into the rivers.
Rivers are no longer sufficient to meet society’s ever-increasing demand of drinking water and hence there is an increased reliance on ground well water, which contains excessive levels of dissolved impurities.
Recent news in Malaysia on using Mining Areas to store water just makes things worst.
The impurities present in drinking water can be classified into:-
Suspended Impurities:- These are the physical impurities which remain suspended in water such as dust, sand, dead insects and harmful micro-organisms like bacteria, viruses and cyst. They lead to discoloration of water and may also cause diseases.
Dissolved Impurities:- These are the chemical impurities which get dissolved and mixed with water. They cannot be removed by simple filtration techniques and require advance technology for removal. These impuritiesinclude chemicals, rust, pesticides, insecticides and salts of metals like arsenic, fluoride, iron, calcium etc.
Hence, with the constant deterioration in the quality of water and rise in impurities, it is now imperativeto have a water purifier in our kitchens, irrespective of the source of water supply.
Present available Water Purification Technologies
As the problems of impurities in water are increasing, thankfully so are the solutions to get rid of them. There are many technologies available in the market which can make contaminated water safe for drinking. However, each of these technologies has its inherent advantages and disadvantages. Some are simple and cost-effective, while some are state-of-the-art but expensive.
Boiling
This is the most common and widespread form of purification technology available to us. Boiling effectively kills all harmful micro-organisms but has no effect on other suspended impurities like dust, sand, etc. It is also not able to remove dissolved impurities present in the water. The logic being simple- if you boil water containing sugar or salt, the water will still remain sweet or salty.
Ultra Violet (UV) Disinfection
Ultra Violet (UV) Disinfection has been in the market for many years now. Some people also refer to this technology as electronic boiling. This technology successfully deactivates harmful micro-organisms like bacteria and viruses but fails to properly deactivate the more harmful ones - cysts. Also, if the water purified through this technology is stored for a long time, then there are chances that the deactivated micro-organisms may reactivate again.
When used in combination with other filters (sediment and carbon), this technology is quite effective in removing all suspended impurities as well as some of the dissolved gases in water. But similar to Boiling, this technology has no effect on dissolved impurities such as rust, arsenic, fluoride, etc.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) Filtration
RO technology is probably the best known purification technology to the mankind. It effectively removes all harmful micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and cyst. When it is used in combination with other filters (sediment and carbon), it successfully removes all other suspended impurities from water including dissolved gases and organic impurities. The biggest advantage of this technology is that it is able to remove more than 99% of dissolved impuritiessuch as chemicals, rusts, salts of heavy metals, pesticides andinsecticides present in water. Infact, RO is the only affordable technology to be able to remove dissolved impurities from water.
However, RO technology has its inherent disadvantages also:-
The process is so efficient that all the dissolved salts (minerals) from the drinking water are filtered out including the essential ones necessary for our body. Water purified through only RO technology is distilled, has a bitter taste (because of no essential minerals) and has pH value lower than 7 which makes it slightly acidic.
Further, RO technology uses a very fine membrane which has a pore size of 0.0001 micron. The process requires raw water to be forced at a very high pressure so that water passes through the small pores of the membrane, which blocks the bacteria, germs and other impurities from passing through. However due to variation in day and night temperatures and high speed pressure, some of the pores of the membrane get enlarged after few months of continuous use, allowing harmful micro-organisms to easily pass through it, thereby making the process ineffective in the long run.
Introducing KENT's Mineral ROTM Technology
Keeping in mind the disadvantages of RO technology, KENT has invented a new technology called the KENT's Mineral RO™ Technology. This patented technology has all the benefits of the RO technology, while eliminating its limitations.
KENT’s patented KENT's Mineral ROTM Technology uses an innovative TDS (total dissolved solids) control valve which allows the user to control the amount of essential natural minerals present in drinking water. It ensures that the RO purified water does not have a bitter taste and the pH is maintained around 7. It also enables the user to adjust the amount of TDS in purified water according to one’s taste.
This technology is based on double purification wherein water after passing through RO, is also passed through Ultra Violet (UV) Light and Ultra Filtration (UF). Secondary purification by UV/UF ensures that when the pores of RO membrane open up and allow harmful micro-organisms to pass through, they get deactivated / filtered out by UV/UF.
Comparison Table on KENT's Mineral ROTM Technology
| Boiling | UV | RO | MINERAL RO™ | |
| Suspended Impurities | ||||
| Dust, Sand, etc |
|  | | |
| Bacteria, Virus, Cysts | | Partially (ineffective against cysts) | | |
| Dissolved Impurities | ||||
| Chemicals |  | | | |
| Pesticides | | | | |
| Salts of Arsenic, Flouride, etc | | | | |
| Retains Minerals | | | | |