1 research outputs found
Addressing drinking water salinity due to sea water intrusion in Praia de Leste, Parana, by a brackish water desalination pilot plant
Seawater intrusion into the Pombas River, source of freshwater to Praia de Leste on the coast of
Parana in Brazil presents a problem to the water utility as most water treatment plants in Brazil
are conventional. To find a solution to this problem, a pilot plant (1 m3
/h) consisting of ultrafiltration (UF) followed by reverse osmosis (RO) was developed and evaluated. For testing, brackish
water was produced with a concentration of 1,500 ± 100 mg/L of total dissolved solids (TDS), mixing
seawater and fresh water. To evaluate the water quality, TDS, electrical conductivity, pH, temperature,
apparent color, turbidity, alkalinity, total hardness, calcium, chloride and sulfate were monitored.
For operational performance, flowrates, osmotic pressure, filtration rate, recovery rate and mass balance were analyzed. On average, the UF system removed 96.4% of turbidity and 98.6% of apparent
color; whereas the RO system removed 99.4% of TDS. The overall average recovery (UF and RO)
was 45.81% with average osmotic pressure of 8.21 bar, filtration rate of 30.7 L/h/m2
in the UF system
and 21.7 L/h/m2
in the RO system. From a water quality point of view, the system was effective in
processing brackish into fresh water of high quality