Two Decades of Successful Low-Pressure Membrane Filtration of Surface Water in Tennessee – Lessons Learned

Two Decades of successful operation of the DRUC low-pressure membrane facility have demonstrated that membrane filtration is clearly a normal, not novel process that can be cost effective and extremely reliable. Optimization of the process over the first few years of operation yielded significant power and chemical savings. Fouling trends demonstrate that the membranes easily exceeded their expected life-span and wore out mechanically well before there was significant permanent fouling. This presentation will review operation of the membrane ultra-filtration system and will include long term operating cost trends, chemical and power consumption, optimization of cleaning protocols, and maintenance requirements. In addition, the presentation will detail maintenance challenges and overall system reliability. The presentation will conclude by showing how this robust membrane filtration system optimized water quality and allowed the DRUC to easily meets all LT2, Stage 2 DBP, and other regulations.