Water. Desalination + reuse
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water.desalination+reuse March 2017 subject 31 An upbeat mood at MTC reflects a growth story that's set to continue The Membrane Technology Conference in Long Beach, California, in February, drew participants from water munici- palities and research institu- tions from across the US, and beyond. There was a large contingent from California and Florida, with Todd Ellison of Palm Beach County, Florida, sweep- ing the AMTA/AWWA 2017 Robert Vernon Operator of the Year Award for his "willingness to do what it takes to overcome any obstacle," in assuring safe and cost efficient water for customers. This year's conference played out against the back- drop of the Oroville Dam crisis, which was unfolding further up the coast in northern Califor- nia, and the biggest storm to hit Long Beach in 12 years drew in as the event closed. There is apparently an old saying in California that drought ends in floods, and it was certainly proving true in this instance. Notwithstanding, the show was upbeat, and reflected a market on the up, one which has been characterised by growth over the past 15 years, and expects that to continue. The presentations covered topics from membrane integrity testing in reuse applications; to optimising renewables by combining seawater pumped storage, hydropower and desalination; to keeping the RO membranes of the future continuously clean — the latter delivered in inimitable style by IDE vice president and chief technology officer for membrane technologies Boris Liberman. Two papers were recognised with an AMTA/AWWA Best Paper Award: 'Application of Flat-Sheet Ceramic Membrane Technology for Water Reuse' by James DeCarolis of Black & Veatch; and 'A Novel Calcium Carbonate Scaling Model for Cal- culating Maximum Recovery and Inhibitor Dosages in Industrial Applications' by Mo Malki of American Water Chemicals. The Best Poster Award went to Tetra Tech for 'Brackish Groundwater RO Treatment to Supplement High TDS Surface Water: Dealing With Escalat- ing Construction Costs' (see overleaf). Jeff Mosher of the US Na- tional Water Research Institute was honoured with AMTA's 2017 Outstanding Member Award, for establishing a partnership with AMTA on the joint AMTA/NWRI fellowships, which "have helped to launch careers in membranes for many deserving students, and began AMTA's commitment to investing in developing young talent." Two students won AMTA/ NWRI Fellowship Awards: Sarah Dischinger, of University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Notre Dame's Mark Summe. AMTA Hall of Fame 2017 winner Charlie Hull designed what was then a breakthrough membrane system at Ocean Reef Club, Florida, US, in 1971 PHOTO BY RANDY TRUBY