KWR uses water from its own pond for TKI research into membrane fouling

Pilot installation research is currently being carried out at KWR’s test facility into the single-stage reverse osmosis concept: a water treatment method in which you can produce, in a single treatment stage (following minimal pretreatment), impeccable water of very high quality from all kinds of water – from pond water, for instance. It is acknowledged that reverse osmosis constitutes a very robust barrier against many known and unknown contaminants in the feedwater, which means that, in principle, the concept can be applied whatever the water source. The biggest problem with reverse osmosis, however, is the resulting membrane fouling, which frequently makes extensive pretreatment a necessity. The TKI research project is seeking innovative ways of managing reverse osmosis operations with a minimum amount of pretreatment, for example, through regular air/water cleaning (AiRO). KWR is now pumping water out of its own pond into the pilot installation, so as to test different methods of preventing the membranes in the reverse osmosis installation from becoming fouled.