A city council is debating between two potential water purification systems: reverse osmosis

Question

and ion exchange. They would like to choose the option that generates less waste. Which of
these statements correctly describes the waste generated by the two technologies? (1 point)
Reverse osmosis produces resin with bound pollutants while ion exchange produces thin
membranes with high concentrations of pollutants.
Reverse osmosis produces thin membranes with high concentrations of pollutants while ion
exchange produces resin with bound pollutants.
Reverse osmosis produces resin with bound pollutants while ion exchange produces waste
water with high concentrations of pollutants.
Reverse osmosis produces waste water with high concentrations of pollutants while ion
exchange produces resin with bound pollutants.

Answer 1

The correct statement is: Reverse osmosis produces waste water with high concentrations of pollutants while ion exchange produces resin with bound pollutants.

In reverse osmosis, the process of filtering water through a semipermeable membrane results in a reject stream (wastewater) that contains a high concentration of contaminants that are removed from the water.

In ion exchange, the process involves exchanging ions in the water with ions on a resin. The resin accumulates pollutants and, after saturation, it needs to be regenerated or replaced, which generates waste in the form of spent resin that contains the bound pollutants.