Reduction in Organic Compound Concentrations Using Well Intakes from SWRO Facilities in the Caribbean and the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia

Subsurface intake systems are generally believed to deliver higher quality of feed water compared to open-ocean intake systems. Some new research results are reported from several desalination plants; two plants located on the Red Sea and one on the Caribbean Sea. These facilities were assessed to compare the feedwater fouling potential of the open-ecean with the well intakes. A water quality assessment was constructed by quantifying the organics content fraction, transparent exopolymer particle (TEP) concentration, and microorganism (algae and bacteria) concentrations. The results were then used to evaluate the performance of the well intake system, which currently is not well documented.