Technologies: Reverse Osmosis (RO)

Wehrle's reverse osmosis systems are used to provide additional membrane filtration so that treated effluents can be further processed and water re-used on industrial sites. This gives the benefits of reduced mains water requirement and reduced wastewater discharged to sewer or local watercourse. The main reason for the use of RO technology is to remove mono-valent components such as chloride.

The technology is based on spirally wound reverse osmosis membranes, which operate under high pressure and concentrate contaminants into a small waste reject stream, only allowing pure water and a very small concentration of inorganic and organic constituents to permeate to the treated water stream.

Typically, in excess of 95% of contaminants are transferred to the reject stream, and up to 90% of the water processed is recovered. A typical effluent flow of 1000 m3/day, with a chloride level of 100 mg/l from a membrane bioreactor system, could be further treated by reverse osmosis to reduce the chloride to less than 5 mg/l and recover up to 900 m3/day of high quality water for use in various applications on site. Often, the quality of the RO-treated water exceeds that of the incoming mains water supply.

Other advantages of RO technology include:
   • Separation of dissolved organic and inorganic constituents.
   • Separation of bacteria and viruses.
   • Reduced energy consumption.
   • Reduced investment and operating costs.
   • Environmentally friendly.
   • Reduced corrosion problems.

Please Contact Us for further information on this technology.