POTABLE WATER TREATMENT
FOR REMOTE COMMUNITIES
Yoram Cohen, Anditya Rahardianto and Madelyn Glickfeld
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department
Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Water Technology Research Center
University of California, Los Angeles
June 19, 2015
© UCLA – Water Technology Research Center
Examples of Potable Water Treatment Technologies for Groundwater Nitrate Reduction
Operation &
Deployment
Ion Exchange/
Adorption
Low Pressure RO/
Nanofiltration
Electrodialysis
(ED/EDR)
Biological Denitrification
Chemical Denitrification
Type
Removal by
adherence to a
solid substrate
Removal be separation
producing product and
residual streams stream
Removal to waste
stream & production of
decontaminated stream
Biological reduction
Chemical Reduction
Pretreatment
Pre-filtration,
mineral scale
mitigation
Pre-filtration (MF,
coagulation, UF), mineral
scale mitigation
Pre-filtration, fouling
mitigation, hardness
control
pH adjustment,
nutrient/subst. addition,
anoxic conditions
pH adjustment, chemical
conditioning
Post Treatment
pH adjustment,
disinfection
pH adjustment,
remineralization,
disinfection
pH adjustment,
remineralization,
disinfection
Filtration (e.g., MF, UF,
RO), disinfection, excess
substrate removal,
disinfection
pH adjustment,
iron/ammonia control,
filtration (e.g., MF, UF,
RO), disinfection
Residuals
High Salinity Brine
Concentrate
Concentrate
Sludge/Biosolids &
possibly membrane
filtration/backwash
residuals
Media/Sludge & possibly
membrane
filtration/concentrate
residuals
Start/Stop
Fast/Fast
Fast/Fast
Fast/Fast
Slow Init./Fast
Fast/Fast
Water Recovery
97%-99.9%
75-95%
Up to 95%
Nearly 100%
Limited field experience
Barrier protection
No
Multiple contaminants
No
No
No
Concentrate Residual Management
Potential reduction of concentrate management costs:
• Blending of concentrate with source water
• Beneficial use of residual stream (i.e., irrigation & blending
with fertilizer stream)
• Diversion of reduced concentrate volume to sewer/septic tanks
• IX treatment of concentrate from high recovery UF/NF/RO
treatment
• IX and adsorption resins may require off site disposal
(as solid waste) when exhausted
• Treatment of residual stream (concentrate) in off-site satellite
plants for biological treatment of RO/NF/IX residual stream
© UCLA – Water Technology Research Center
UCLA Demonstration Project: New Paradigm of Distributed Water
Systems Operation, Management and Control
Demonstrate a distributed membrane-based
systems for water purification (including
nitrate removal) with the objectives of:
• Meeting drinking water quality and local supply needs
• Providing remote system monitoring/reporting, expert
supervision and control and fault detection
 reduce need for onsite O&M
• Addressing residuals management issues
• Engaging the community and other stakeholders
through transparency of system monitoring,
operability, and rapid expert response
Satellite Systems
© UCLA – Water Technology Research Center
Mobile Smart Water
Treatment System
Production capacity: ~30,000 gallons/day
Current UCLA presence in the San
Joaquin Valley: Integrated
MF/UF/RO systems for inland
water treatment developed by
UCLA. The plant is equipped with
for optimizing integration with
various pretreatment modules.
The plant can produce up to
~27,000 gallons/day of potable
water from water sources of
varying quality, including
groundwater and agricultural
drainage water.
© UCLA – Water Technology Research Center
Plug-and-play
containerized
plant for water
purification and
desalination
Treatment/Desalination of Agricultural Drainage (AD)
http://www.standeyo.com/NEWS/09_Food_Water/090226.Feds.cut.water.2CA.farms.html
© UCLA – Water Technology Research Center
UCLA Smart Integrated Membrane System (SIMS) Plant
(Source Water, UF Filtered Water and Product Water)
Source Water: Agricultural
Source Water (Panoche)
Drainage Water
Nitrate: 170 - 190 mg/L
TDS: ~16,000 – 19,000 mg/L
Nitrate: ~160 mg/L
Gypsum Saturation Index: > 1
(i.e., at or above saturation)
Agricultural Drainage Water
© UCLA – Water Technology Research Center
UF Filtrate
RO Permeate
~ 80 mg/L TDS
~ Nitrate: ~ 4 mg/L
SUMMARY
• Membrane based water treatment technology is proven
and effective for removal of nitrates, other contaminants
and salinity
• The UCLA project will involve water treatment
installations in multiple communities
• Treatment systems will incorporate UCLA’s Smart Water
System technology to enable remote monitoring and
supervisory control
© UCLA – Water Technology Research Center
END