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DEMINERALIZATION OF CARBON-TREATED SECONDARY EFFLUENT BY SPIRAL-WOUND REVERSE OSMOSIS PROCESS
Citation:
Chen, C. AND R. Miele. DEMINERALIZATION OF CARBON-TREATED SECONDARY EFFLUENT BY SPIRAL-WOUND REVERSE OSMOSIS PROCESS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-78/169.
Description:
A 56.8 cu m/day (15,000 gallons/day) spiral-wound reverse osmosis pilot plant was operated at the Pomona Advanced Wastewater Treatment Research Facility on the carbon-treated secondary effluent. The specific objectives for this study were (a) to establish the effective membrane life for wastewater demineralization with carbon adsorption pretreatment; (b) to determine the reliability of the process performance; and (c) to derive a realistic process cost estimate. The study was first conducted on a constant feed pressure basis, and then it was run on a constant product water flux rate basis. During the first phase of the study, pH adjustment was not practiced for the weekly enzyme-detergent membrane cleaning procedures. However, this was practiced in the second phase of the study. The results from both phases of studies substantiated the fact that the membrane effective life was only about one year in demineralizing the carbon-treated secondary effluent. A cost estimate for a 37,850 cu m/day (10 MGD) reverse osmosis plant indicated that for membranes with only one-year life the process cost was about 14.9 cents/1,000 liters (57.4 cents/1,000 gallons). However, the cost could be substantially reduced to 10.7 cents/1,000 liters (41.3 cents/1,000 gallons) for membranes with two-year life. Both cost estimates did not include the costs for carbon adsorption pretreatment and brine disposal.