The topic:   Technology selection and pilot-scale demonstration, potable water

The client: UK water utility

The brief

This job, with a wide-ranging scope and extending over a three-year period, began with a survey of technologies applicable to small-scale surface water treatment for potable water supply. Of particular concern was suppression of chlorinated organic byproduct formation along with reduction of the risk of microbial contamination, and cryptosporidium oocysts in particular. Part of the study entailed a review of membrane integrity test methods and patterns of behaviour in historical oocyst detection.

Another major part of the work was a review of pilot/full scale demonstration of membrane technologies for THM formation abatement with reference to (a) the rejection natural organic matter and its discrete constituents, (b) the reactivity of the residual organic matter with reference to THM formation, and (c) the membrane hydraulic performance in terms of the sustainable permeability. The work is to culminate in a practical demonstration-scale study of the short-listed candidate NF technologies.

43 days

This work informed a paper, published in Separation and Purification Technology, on the THM formation propensity of residual natural organic matter in ultrafiltration permeate streams, data being taken from 35 regional UF plants challenged with surface water.