Water. desalination + reuse

February/March 2013

Water. Desalination + reuse

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RESEARCH WRRF report pulls together membrane fouling knowledge A report bringing together the current state of the art of dealing with membrane fouling has been published by the WateReuse Research Foundation as a preparation for refining and/or developing visualized future membrane-fouling research activities. State-of-the-Science Review of Membrane Fouling: Organic, Inorganic, and Biological – (06-010A-1) http://www.watereuse.org/ node/2084 summarizes the current state of fouling understanding and control. The project focuses on the most common areas of biological, organic and inorganic causes, and offers new ideas that can lead to technologies that ultimately may be used in full-scale installations. The project was organized into three tasks. The first involved conducting a literature review on membrane fouling and surveying industry users and researchers about their current research activities. This work led to the development ("visualization") of initial categories for research projects. The second task was to convene a workshop consisting of project participants and selected experts in the membrane fouling field to review the identified information from Task One and to refine and/or develop the visualized future membrane fouling research activities. The third task was to evaluate the gathered data and prepare this final report. This report describes the 27 research project topics that were developed. For each topic the report describes the topic, objective, probable tasks that could be followed, the rationale for doing the project, and what overall benefit would be gained by completing the research. The information is substantively complete and immediately available for use by research agencies to finalize the project scope and release for funding proposals. Another recent WRRF report, Pilot Testing Preformed Chloramines as a Means of Controlling Biofouling in Seawater Desalination - (09-09-1, 2012), looks at a project following up research done 30 years ago to resolve issues with the stability of chlorine residuals in the electrical power industry. This showed preformed chloramines react very slowly with the bromide in seawater. The current project, led by Dr R Shane Trussell of Trussell Technologies, used a combination of bench-scale experiments and pilot testing to evaluate the use of preformed chloramines to control biofouling during seawater reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination. Microbial analysis of the used elements showed little difference in biofilm density but demonstrated biofilm populations were different. This finding suggests chloramines do not prevent biofilm growth as much as they select the bacteria that live within that biofilm. Desalination possible for brackish W Texas aquifer Desalination of brackish groundwater may be one option to meet projected increasing water shortages projected for the Trans-Pecos region in West Texas, USA, according to the report of a pilot study recently published by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). The report, Pecos Valley Aquifer, West Texas: Structure and Brackish Groundwater, estimates that the Pecos Valley Aquifer contains about 15 million acre-ft (18.5 billion m3) of fresh water. It also contains 85 million acre-ft (105 billion m3) of brackish groundwater (1,00010,000 mg/L total dissolved solids (tds)), and 1 million acre-ft (1.2 million m3) of very saline water (>10,000 mg/L tds). The brackish water is present almost everywhere in the aquifer but appears to be more prevalent in the central and western parts. These are also areas where the saturated thickness of the aquifer is the greatest. The 2010 approved state water plan for this area (Region F) projects water shortages of about 28,887 acre-ft (35.6 million m3) in 2010, increasing to 35,342 acre-ft (43.6 million m3) in 2060. In 2009, TWDB established the Brackish Resources Aquifer Characterization System program to map and characterize brackish groundwater in the state and facilitate the planning of desalination projects. As part of the program, the Pecos Valley Aquifer in Regional Water Planning Area F was selected for a pilot study. Desalination of brackish groundwater present in the Pecos Valley Aquifer may be one option to meet at least some of the projected shortages, say the report's authors. They emphasise, however, that information presented in the report and that available in its datasets cannot, be a substitute for a detailed site investigation that involves test well drilling, aquifer testing and water quality analysis. The pilot study has helped lay the foundation for future Brackish Resources Aquifer Characterization System projects by developing a database management system in which a variety of data can be stored and processed. PWN and PUB to collaborate more on ceramic filters Following the promising trial of PWN Technologies' CeraMac® demonstration plant at Choa Chu Kang Waterworks, Singapore, the Dutch company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PUB, Singapore's national water agency, detailing further areas of collaboration in advanced water treatment. Both parties will work together to realize scientific and technological benefits by developing knowledge-intensive programs and projects. The trial was funded by the Environment and Water Industry Programme Office's TechPioneer scheme. With the ongoing demonstration testing, specific targets as defined in the TechPioneer agreement | 44 | Desalination & Water Reuse | February-March 2013 (such as high water flux and water recovery) are being met.. Says PWN's CEO Pieter Spohr: "This MOU underscores the strengthening partnership between Singapore and The Netherlands in the area of advanced water treatment and PWN Technologies is extremely honoured to play a leading role in developing this relationship."

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