BGD Municipal Pilot Study Results and Conclusions

The paper describes the pilot testing for San Antonio Water System?s (SAWS) Brackish Groundwater Desalination Program. The primary goals in the pilot testing effort were to obtain a TCEQ capacity rating and approval of the use of membranes from three manufacturers for the full scale facility and to evaluate certain pre-membrane processes. However, SAWS derived additional benefits from the piloting work. Analysis of the pilot testing results enabled SAWS to form some conclusions towards performance variances among manufacturers. The pilot study also produced unanticipated results in the clean-in-place performance on the membranes of two manufacturers that merited additional testing and scrutiny.