Water. desalination + reuse

RESEARCH Philadelphia team claims replacement for AC Researchers at Philadelphia's Temple University claim to have developed a novel adsorbent that is more effective, reusable and environmentally friendly at removing contaminants of emerging concern from wastewater. So far, they have tested the new material against contaminants such as steroid hormones, detergent compounds and bisphenol A in both laboratory water and discharged wastewater and found that it has removed more than 90% of the contaminants. Professor Rominder Suri, director of the Water & Environmental Technology center at the university, and his team used cyclodextrins, a family of compounds made up of bound glucose (sugar) molecules, to develop their adsorbent material, which could have a positive impact on the water treatment, pharmaceutical, chemical and manufacturing industries. Suri said that cyclodextrins have an affinity for attracting organic compounds that is much higher than activated carbon, currently the most common material for removing wastewater contaminants. "Activated carbon is very porous and water — whether it be surface water, groundwater or wastewater — contains a lot of natural organic matter," said Suri. "These are big molecules, and when they hit the activated carbon, they block the pores, which prevents the contaminant particles from getting inside." Suri said the new adsorbent has a cavity-like area to trap the contaminants, which are made up of organic compounds. By changing the functional groups on the glucose molecule, the size of the cavity can be increased or reduced. "That means we can potentially manipulate this adsorbent substance to target and remove select contaminants, something that activated carbon cannot do," he said. SWCC signs renewables agreement with KACARE Saudi Arabia's Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) signed an agreement on 3 October 2013 with the King Abdullah City for Atomic & Renewable Energy (KACARE) to study and develop uses of atomic and renewable energy (solar photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal and wind) in water desalination. KACARE's search for sustainable energy resources for the electricity sector has coincided with SWCC's need for cheaper energy to drive its desalination plants. The following day, SWCC's governor, Dr Abdulrahman Al-Ibrahim, met an eight-man German delegation in the PV and water desalination sectors. He told the Germans that SWCC was planning to use renewable energy sources such as the PV solar energy and concentrated solar panels. The governor reiterated that, with the cooperation of King Abdullah City for Science & Technology, SWCC's plant in Khafji would produce 30,000 m3/d using PV energy and reverse osmosis. WRRF reports on disinfection and ion-exchange The WateReuse Research Foundation has published reports on: disinfection in satellite water-reuse facilities; and use of ion-exchange in desalination concentrate management. Disinfection Guidelines for Satellite Water Recycling Facilities (WRF-0807) by principal investigator Joseph G Jacangelo of MWH Americas, sought to characterize membrane bioreactor effluent water quality requirements necessary for operation with lower disinfection requirements. Kerry J Howe of the University of New Mexico led the ion-exchange project, Selective Salt Recovery from Reverse Osmosis (RO) Concentrate Using Interstage Ion Exchange (WRF-06-010E), which tested the use of sequential cation and anion exchange between two RO stages. The study concluded that sequential ion-exchange has the potential to generate salts from RO concentrate and to increase water recovery from RO systems. | 42 | Desalination & Water Reuse | November-December 2013 WRA launches improved water reuse database The WateReuse Association (WRA) has announced the launch of its new and improved National Water Reuse Database (NWRD). The NWRD provides utility/ facility general information and annual data on the flow, treatment and end-use of recycled water from the states with the most reuse. Over the past two years, WRA has upgraded the original database platform and imported new data from the major states reusing water. California, Florida, and Texas have self-maintained databases that were imported, and volunteers from Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada input data for their states. Additonal states or facilities not represented are encouraged to enter or modify existing data. Contact may be made via e-mail at database@watereuse.org or a Survey Form can be downloaded to submit new or updated data. American Water to investigate DO in MBRs The WateReuse Research Foundation has awarded a research grant to American Water to investigate the impacts of low dissolved oxygen (DO) conditions at a full-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) water reuse plant. The project, valued at US$ 365,777, will focus on the operation of advanced MBRs under low DO conditions to maximize nitrogen removal. Researchers will monitor the process using continuous online analyzers. The study will be conducted at the Fillmore Water Recycling Facility, an award-winning zero-discharge water reuse plant that is designed, built and operated by American Water's Contract Services Group for the city of Fillmore, California.

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