Is nanofiltration better than reverse osmosis for removal of fluoride from brackish waters to produce drinking water?

ABSTRACT In this paper, nanofiltration (NF) was investigated as a suitable technology for defluoridating brackish groundwater. A comparison between NF and reverse osmosis (RO) was performed to evaluate which method is the best for removing fluorine from groundwater to produce drinking water. Although NF employs a membrane that requires a low amount of energy, both NF and RO have advantages and limitations. NF and RO have similar costs for desalinating brackish water, and thus both the membranes can be used for this aim, but we believe that this will change with the next generation of NF membranes.