A Business Case for 2-stage RO System Design

The abstract describes how three RO trains were designed with varying arrays to treat a single water source. Each of the different arrays were then used to estimate the construction and operation costs. The paper then compares the costs to one another, arguing that 2-stage arrays are cheaper to construct and operate than 3-stage designs with the given water quality and a recovery of 85%. Technology has improved to the point where 2-stage arrays are able to achieve 85% recovery, which was previously only achievable with 3-stage systems. This paper challenges what some may consider to be an industry standard, and highlights a design alternative for RO systems.