Surface Water Purification Without Pre-Treatment Using Ceramic Membranes

A pilot study was conducted in Texas on surface water from the Rio Grande for a Multi MGD drinking water application. Water was drawn directly from the reservoir and sent to the cross flow ceramic membrane process. No coagulation, flocculation, settling or other pretreatments were applied upstream of the membrane process. This presentation will focus on the performance data which will describe process and complexity reductions over existing methods of water purification such as clarifiers and sand filters.A major goal was to remove precursors of disinfection by-products (ie. THMs & HAAs) by removing DOC and reducing chlorine demand. By doing so, the plant could eliminate the need for chloramines and convert to free chlorine.