Industrial RO Plant is a treatment system with the capability to remove contaminants, dissolved salts, and different types of impurities from water. An RO plant depends heavily on water quality at the source in regard to the effectiveness of the plant. In order to achieve high output levels of the system and to produce clear, quality water, there is a set of water precursors that must be met before the water is sent into the RO plant. Now we discuss in details Industrial RO Plant Water Source Quality Requirements.
Why Source Water Quality is Important
The quality of the water that enters an RO plant is related to the performance, durability, and potentiality to generate purified water by the plant. In respect to source water quality, low quality source water can have a negative effect on RO membranes, reduce the efficiency of the system and increase the cost of maintenance. It also affects the quality of water produced by the RO plant when the source water fails to achieve certain quality standards.
Key Water Source Quality Requirements
1. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
- What It Is: TDS or total dissolved solids refers to all of the mineral, salt or metallic particles present in water.
- Why It’s Important: High TDS concentrations in the water can cause RO membranes to scale and become restricted which can reduce the flow rate of water through the system.
- Ideal Value: For better performance, the TDS of the source water should not be more than 2000 mg/L. If is it higher, then it would require pre-treatment before it gets to the RO plant for further treatment.
2. pH Level
- What It Is: The value of the pH scale indicates how acidic/alkaline the water is. It plays an important role in defining the corrosiveness of the water.
- Why It’s Important: Water naturally in its raw form can be more acidic or possess high pH which affects the RO membranes hence lower plant life and efficiency.
- Ideal Value: The pH of the source-water should range between 6 and 8.5. Water outside this range may have to be pre-conditioned for its pH in order to reach this level.
3. Hardness
- What It Is: Water hardness is the amount of calcium and magnesium ions in the water soluble state.
- Why It’s Important: In the presence of hard water, scales develop on the membrane of an RO plant, which hampers productivity and raises the cost of maintenance. It also has the potential of causing blockage in pipes and hence reducing water drinking rate.
- Ideal Value: Water softening should be less than 170 mg/L (as calcium carbonate). The water’s hardness also increases as the RO plant’s input water increases, and higher hardness levels may need to be softened.
4. Turbidity
- What is it: Turbidity measures how cloudy the water is because of particles, such as silt, mud, and algae.
- Why It’s Important: An RO plant’s membranes can become fouled by high turbidity, which can lead to decreased efficiency and the need for routine membrane cleaning or replacement.
- Ideal Value: Nephelometric Turbidity Units, or NTUs, indicate that the turbidity of the source water is less than 5. Pre-treatment that removes suspended particles from the water may be necessary for somewhat more turbid water.
5. Iron and Manganese
- What It Is: These are metals, which can be present in the water and especially if the water naturally originates from the areas with high minerals concentrations in the soil, it can contain iron and manganese.
- Why It’s Important: Iron and manganese are well known for causing an undesirable color on pipes and fixtures and while they are also capable of fouling the RO membrane and thus reducing its useful life and efficiency.
- Ideal Value: Source water can contain no more than 0.3mg/L of iron and no more than 0.05mg/L of manganese. If levels are higher, pre-treatment is required for the removal of these metals.
6. Chlorine
- What It Is: In water treatment, chlorine is usually added to municipal water with intention of eliminating bacteria and other pathogen.
- Why It’s Important: Before entering the RO plant, chlorine is a great disinfectant; however, it shortens the membrane’s efficiency and the lifespan of the RO.
- Ideal Value: Chlorine residual in the raw water should be below 0.1 mg/L Since, chlorine at higher concentrations need to be removed from the feed water before feeding it to the RO plant.
7. Silica
- What It Is: Silica is an inert solid suspended in water and induces scaling and membrane fouling in an RO plant.
- Why It’s Important: They said that high level of silica leads to scaling of the membrane and therefore less efficiency of the RO plant as well frequent cleaning of the membranes is necessary.
- Ideal Value: The silica content of the source water should not exceed 20 mg/l. However, if silica level is high then pre-treatment will require more steps.
8. Bacteria and Microorganisms
- What It Is: Bacteria and other microorganisms including viruses and other harmful organisms that results from the untreated water present in lakes, rivers or other water bodies.
- Why It’s Important: These microorganisms have the ability to stick to the surface of RO membranes and aid in the biofouling process, which calls for strong chemical cleaning.
- Ideal Value: There should be little to no coliform in the source water, as well as a low bacterial and microbiological load. If germs are found, UV sterilization or chlorination may be required as a pre-treatment.
9. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
- What It Is: COD decides the level of dangerous and toxic waste materials in water. COD yield high value if the water contains some of the organic matter.
- Why It’s Important: Organic pollutants are prone to foul the RO membranes and resulting to low productivity of the RO plant and more cleaning.
- Ideal Value: COD of the source water should be less than 10mg/L, if it is greater than this limits, then source water will need some additional treatment or/and filtration to remove many of the pollutants.
10. Conductivity
- What It Is: Conductivity indicates the capacity of water to conduct electricity current depending with salinity of water.
- Why It’s Important: High conductivity signifies that the source water contains several salts and, as it was noted earlier, salts are not friendly to the RO membranes.
- Ideal Value: The conductivity of the source water should not be greater than 2000µS/cm If the conductivity of the water is higher than 2000 µS/cm, pretreatment of the water may be needed because of the salt content.
Pre-Treatment for Source Water
In cases where source water does not meet these quality standards it may have to pass through additional treatment prior to arriving at the RO plant. Common pre-treatment methods include:
- Sediment Filtration: Used to remove sediments, including granules of sand, and other particles that give water turbidity or cloudiness.
- Water softening: It takes out calcium and magnesium ions from the water that gets into the businesses in order to lessen its hardness.
- Dechlorination: In an attempt to protect the RO membranes, this stage also removes chlorine from the water.
- UV Sterilization: Eliminates microbes and germs that may lead to biofouling.
Conclusion
The source water quality standards should be met to enhance the efficiency of industrial RO plant. Low water quality also has an impact of lowering the membrane life, high operational cost of maintenance and the quality of water after treatment. That is why testing and pre-treatment in the source water removes every possible impediment that may disrupt the smooth functioning of the plant’s Reverse Osmosis and supply excellent water suitable for industrial uses.
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