Nanofiltration is sometimes used to recycle wastewater, as it offers higher flux rates and uses less energy than a reverse osmosis system. The design and operation of nanofiltration is very similar to that of nanofiltration is very similar to that of reverse osmosis, with some differences. The major difference is that the nano membrane is not as “tight” as the reverse osmosis membrane. It operates at a lower feedwater pressure and it does not remove monovalent (i.e., those with a single charge or valence of one) ions from the water as effectively as the RO membrane.

While a RO membrane will typically remove 98-99% of monovalent ions, such as chlorides or sodium, a nanofiltration membrane typically removes 50% to 90%, depending on the material and manufacture of the membrane. Because of its ability to effectively remove di and trivalent ions, nanofiltration is frequently used to remove hardness from water while leaving the total dissolved solids content much less affected than would RO. For this reason, it has been called the “softening membrane”. Nanofiltration is often used to filter water with low amounts of total dissolved solids, to remove organic matter and soften water.