Increasing water demands and more stringent US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations prompted Upper Trinity Regional
Water District (UTRWD) north of Dallas, Texas to pursue membrane technology for an
upcoming district expansion. State regulatory guidelines require testing at the pilot scale level
before state approval of a membrane process and maximum design operating flux (i.e., plant
capacity). Such requirements become obvious when considering the wide variability in water
quality for surface waters; each source has its own peculiarities.
Fluctuations in raw water quality not only pose a threat to the potential breakdown in the
treatment process, but require operator input to react to changing conditions. The ability to
automate and remotely control/operate membrane processes was one of the motivations behind
consideration of membrane technology. Seasonal and daily fluctuations observed in this study
included: taste and odor compounds, turbidity, total organic carbon (TOC), temperature, and
Fe/Mn concentrations. Raw water quality fluctuations ranged from moderate (65% increase in
average total organic carbon) to excessive (292% increase in average turbidity).
Pretreatment with ferric sulfate coagulation was immediately followed by membrane filtration.
Three membrane units, Hydranautics, Pall Corporation, and Zenon Environmental were tested
from September 2001 to April 2002. With optimized coagulant dose, flux, and backwash
parameters, membrane filtration was shown to be a viable option. Initial plant size for the fullscale
installation will be 11-mgd, expandable to 30-mgd in 10 years. Includes 6 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 570 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 13 |
| Published : | 03/05/2003 |
