Avoid these mistakes in designing RO desalination plants

The biggest mistake that some desalination plant designers can make is making unnecessary assumptions. Ignoring some small details that make a big difference in the success or failure of the project. Therefore, you must make sure to avoid these mistakes in designing desalination plants. Especially in understanding and knowing the feed water in detail.

Mistakes in designing desalination plants before starting their operation

Avoiding these mistakes in designing a desalination plant before starting saves you money and effort spent on fixing these mistakes in advance. Therefore, make sure before starting to design a desalination plant that you should avoid neglecting the following points:

• A complete analysis of the quality of the feed water from a specialized and reliable laboratory. You must know the operating conditions and terms of the plant, and this actually helps in choosing the right equipment and devices and their operating methods and the possibility of maintaining them when necessary.
• Pay close attention to the issue of the temperature of the feed water, depending on the geographical location of the station. Sometimes it may be necessary to cool the water before entering the desalination membranes, and it is also recommended to simulate the membranes during design at different temperatures.

Chemicals that negatively affect the treatment process

• Chlorine negatively affects the membranes, and if added to the primary treatment. It must be removed before the water enters the membranes through activated carbon. Or antioxidants with the installation of a chlorine analyzer by measuring the oxidation and reduction potential (ORP), which protects the membranes by triggering an alarm. Or stopping the station according to the design and settings of the aforementioned measuring device.
• Iron in the feed water is also a damaging factor for reverse osmosis membranes, especially in groundwater wells. It is very important to check the iron content and its percentage and remove it in the primary treatment by aeration or filtration with (DMI). That works to remove iron and manganese from the water.
• Excessive hardness, especially resulting from calcium and magnesium, has negative effects on the pipes and also affects the recovery rates of the membranes. It can be eliminated or reduced by softening by ion exchange, where calcium and magnesium ions are exchanged with sodium ions. Or using nano filters.

Mistakes in the design of desalination plants after starting their operation

• Filtration in primary treatment is essential and is designed based on the level of solids in the feed water and turbidity, as well as the silt density index. You can rely on multi-media filters (MMF) or ultra-filters (UF) in addition to cartridge filters (CF).
• Avoid membrane contamination by paying attention to the washing system (CIP) because it is essential for every desalination plant. Because membrane contamination is inevitable no matter how high the quality of the incoming water. The washing performance and success will depend on the specifications of the chemicals used and the temperature.
• Not integrating the washing system connections into the design of the station may increase the cost slightly. But in the long run, it will save a lot of time and money, and ensure speed in washing the membranes when necessary.
• Neglecting to guide and advise the project owner or its final operator. Hence the necessity of choosing an operating crew with experience, knowledge, and previous experience. Because handing over any project to operators below the required professional level may cause huge losses that cannot be compensated.

In conclusion

To solve these mistakes mentioned above, you must put in more effort, time, and certainly money. Therefore, the best strategy to avoid these mistakes is to deal with an institution that has experience in this field. That guarantees its ability to design and build water desalination plants of all types.

This guarantees you, in addition to avoiding any potential errors, the availability of a technical support team and the provision of periodic and preventive maintenance services throughout the period of operation of the station. This is what the CareWater provides for all water solutions.