Membrane Post Treatment
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America’s Authority in Membrane Treatment Membrane Post Treatment Post treatment for low pressure used for desalting drinking water determined by regulatory requirements, membranes (MF and UF) is typically supplies. the design of the system, finished water minimal consisting of disinfection (as a quality criteria and water chemistry. The MEMBRANE DESALINATION secondary barrier) and sometimes pH need for post-treatment generally de- PROCESSES adjustment and corrosion control, pends on a number of factors, which can Many municipal plants have multiple depending on raw water chemistry. be grouped into several categories, all of process trains installed in parallel, Since these low pressure membranes do which are related to water quality: allowing flexibility in permeate (product not remove dissolved substances and water) production and ease of • Chemical stability water chemistry remains unchanged, the expansion. In some instances it is post treatment approach is similar to • Microbiological Stability possible to bypass a portion of the raw conventional sand filtration and • Palatability and Customer or pretreated water around the therefore not discussed in this fact sheet. Acceptability membrane system and blend that flow Instead, this fact sheet focuses on with the permeate stream to reduce the • Secondary Impacts on membrane desalination. size of the membrane system, improve Wastewater Influent Quality Desalination is intended for the finished water stability, and minimize A recent overview of the current state of removal of total dissolved salts (TDS) capital and operating costs. The 62 full-scale RO/NF plants, 9 greater that generally cannot be removed by maximum allowable blend ratio is than one-million gallons per day of conventional treatment processes alone. determined from an analysis of bypass capacity, used for either seawater Reverse Osmosis (RO), Nanofiltration and permeate water qualities. desalination, brackish water (NF) and Electro-Dialysis Reversal desalination (including ground water, (EDR) synthetic membrane processes surface water and agricultural runoff), produce treated water that requires post or wastewater reclamation provides an treatment before delivery to the insight into post-treatment practices. All distribution system as finished water. of the surveyed facilities reported using These membrane processes produce per- at least one post-treatment meate water depleted in minerals which method for permeate conditioning and often is found to be aggressive towards corrosion control. These included such distribution system components. methods as caustic addition (31%), Different RO and NF membranes have blending with raw, semi-treated or different mass transfer characteristics; Post-treatment processes typically finished water (29%), degasification/ using a membrane with a lower include stabilization, disinfection and decarbonation (25%), and addition of molecular weight cutoff will decrease corrosion control, and can include corrosion inhibitor (14%). Most of the the permeate concentration. EDR degasification and/or air stripping brackish water RO plants responding to processes are impacted by the amount of processes if carbon dioxide and the survey reported using electrical current and electrical hydrogen sulfide gases are present in the degasification/decarbonation and requirements and less effected by the permeate water. Post- treatment is need- caustic addition, with the majority type of membrane. Regardless of ed for municipal water treatment before blending permeate with groundwater. specific membrane formulations, the the membrane-treated water is delivered Permeate disinfection was reported to be water produced by RO, NF and EDR to the distribution system as finished used by 85% of the surveyed membrane processes is incompatible water. facilities that responded, most of which with many components and used chlorine. Other reported appurtenances that comprise water POST-TREATMENT PROCESS disinfection methods included the use of distribution system infrastructure. This OVERVIEW chloramine (24%) and ultraviolet irradi- fact sheet discusses the post-treatment The choice and sequence of ation (4%). of RO and NF membrane processes post- treatment operations are typically Table 1 presents the typical problems when distributed. Many the pH which will be dependent upon categorization of permeate facilities pump desalinated water the buffering capacity and bicarbonate post-treatment depending on source wa- directly into the distribution system alkalinity, calcium, sulfate and chloride, ter type. There are four primary without being mixed or blended with dissolved oxygen, boron, total dissolved issues concerning the post-treatment other finished water supplies that cause solids concentration and corrosion water. These relate to blending, concern with regards to distribution sys- indices. These parameters are interrelat- remineralization, disinfection and the tem water quality. Consequently, evalu- ed in the final treatment process selected materials used for storage and transport ation of water quality parameters for use for post- treatment, depending on of the water to the tap. in determining appropriate application and source water (i.e. ocean post-treatment actions is required for surface versus brackish ground water Desalinated water is often blended with desalination membrane treatment supplies). other sources that contribute minerals to applications. Factors that should be the final blended water. Seawater as a Alkalinity, Scale and Red Water included when referring to the quality of source for blending is limited due to Alkalinity in water is a measure of the desalinated waters include the issues related to corrosivity and taste if general buffering capacity or stability of chemical and biological stability of the blending levels exceed about 1%. the water. Increasing the alkalinity gen- water and its interaction with the Blending of permeate water with erally leads to lower and corrosion rate distribution system. Permeate streams seawater results in the addition of and results in less changes in the pH of from sea- water and brackish water sodium, potassium, calcium, and distributed water; however, excess desalting processes are primarily a magnesium to the drinking-water but alkalinity can cause excessive scale dilute solution of sodium chloride. also will contribute bromide and iodide deposition where calcium may be Untreated permeate from sea or which are DBP precursors, and is present. Alkalinity is thus directly brackish water reverse osmosis plants limited in quantity due to the related to the buffering capacity of does not conform to the drinking water significant concentrations of these water and is considered an important standards of such organizations as WHO constituents. Consideration should be parameter affecting the pH. Alkalinity or the EPA. Due to the low TDS values given to the natural minerals present and depends on the concentration of RO permeate water can be unpalatable, whether these will result in the bicarbonate, carbonate, and hydroxide corrosive, and suspected as unhealthy. finished water having unacceptable ions in water. For a given pH value, the water qualities in addition to To stabilize the water, and to prevent higher the alkalinity value, the higher unacceptable taste and odor. corrosion (metal release) of piping the ability of the water to withstand a systems and domestic plumbing, change in pH due to release of H+ and PERMEATE WATER QUALITY post-treatment is necessary to return OH- ions to the water. A higher CONSIDERATIONS some calcium hardness and bicarbonate alkalinity at a given pH translates into a The chemical composition of permeate alkalinity to the water. In many higher dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) water produced by RO or NF when situations, post-treatment also includes concentration of the carbonate species blended with other source water can the removal of carbon dioxide to raise (CO2- ). However, too high of an alka- cause water quality and infrastructure the pH, hydrogen sulfide removal when linity at higher pH levels may accelerate required, and the addition lead and copper metal release. It is also of fluoride which is known that red water prevention can be removed during the accomplished by maintaining the alka- desalting process. linity in the system when considering a Corrosion control is a subsequent pH shift if treatment was to priority when either be employed. A non-stabilized finished directly pumping desalted water can experience fluctuations in pH finished waters into the in the distribution system as scale is distribution system or deposited (scale) or dissolved when blending different (corrosion). It is desirable to maintain water sources from the alkalinity concentration in distributed membrane process. The water above one mill-equivalent of constituents of concern alkalinity, or 60 mg/L (as calcium when establishing a post carbonate). treatment process include Dissolved Oxygen WHO has recently published guidelines + - H S (gas) = H + HS (aq) pK = 7 (4) The oxygen concentration can have for boron value of 2.4 mg/L for human 2 1 HS1- = H+ + S2- (aq) pK = 14 (5) varying effects on iron corrosion. The health perspective. 2 corrosion rate increases with increasing dissolved oxygen. Dissolved oxygen is BRACKISH GROUND WATER As shown in equation (4), since at pH of also responsible for the ability of POST-TREATMENT 7 only 50 percent of hydrogen sulfide buffering ions, including phosphates, to CONSIDERATIONS exists in the gas form and