Nitrate and perchlorate in drinking water sources are of major health concerns because they
can cause adverse health effects on human and ecosystems. While it is technically possible to
treat nitrate and perchlorate in water supplies, it can be difficult, expensive and not totally
effective.
This work evaluates the feasibility of new membrane hybrid systems for the removal of
nitrate and perchlorate from drinking water. This hybrid system combines low pressure
reverse osmosis (LPRO) and ion exchange membranes (IEM) to achieve high recovery of
permeate flow and low energy consumption. Different configurations of hybrid systems were
compared to find out the optimum process configuration.
The study carried out experiments using a laboratory-scale IEM device and pilot-scale RO
equipment. Four kinds of ion exchange membranes were compared based on membrane
transport analysis. A spiral wound LPRO membrane was used for RO filtration test.
Membrane transport studies showed that IEM is suitable for obtaining water with
concentrations of nitrate below the recommended levels. LPRO could reject 80%-95% of
nitrate even at transmembrane pressure below 800 kPa. The optimum combination of IEM
and LPRO is likely to be effective for high removal efficiency of nitrate with low energy
consumption. Includes 8 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 920 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 10 |
| Published : | 11/01/2009 |
