Brackish water usage

Raising the RO feed water temperature from 20 to 30°C reduces the plant energy usage by 10%. Overall costs could also be decreased if the brine concentrates are processed to recover valuable products. A few such cases are discussed in Chapter 3. Deployment of high recovery brackish water RO systems, i.e. a primary RO (PRO) plus a brine recovery RO (BRO) increases the overall PWR from 70—75% to 85—90%. A10% reduction in energy consumption is achievable when the BRO unit is replaced by a NF unit [44]. The NF feed pressure is about 30% lower than the BRO feed pressure. 

Pressure membrane separation is increasingly used for potable water treatment and in water reuse processes. Applications include softening, organic removal, and desalination of brackish well water, surface water, and seawater. For some applications, membrane processes offer the advantages of superior water quality, reduced chemical usage, less chemical waste production, and lower energy consumption. 

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