Reverse osmosis technology was a new liquid separation technology with advantages of high efficiency,easy operation and environment friendly.In this paper,theory and development?of reverse osmosis technology was introduced.Content focused on the research and development of reverse osmosis technology in the desalination treatment of seawater and brackish water,preparation of pure water,industrial sewage treatment.In addition,the problems and solution methods in the reverse osmosis technology were discussed.In the end,prospect and progress was proposed.