REVERSE-OSMOSIS PLANTS OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE EXPERIENCE IN THE MIDDLE-EASTERN REGION

The success or failure of most medium and large plants in the region n ot only depends on efficient design, construction quality etc, but con siderably depends on their operation and maintenance. Though most RO p lants have state of art equipment and employ latest technology they la g behind substantially in specific areas of hands-on experience of the ir operation personnel due to which certain critical aspects get negle cted and overlooked. This vital area inspite of being critically impor tant, is probably the least appreciated. It is this most critical aspe ct which probably forms the weakest link in the chain and in most case s negatively impacts the RO plants in the Middle Eastern region. This paper attempts to outline several of such important O&M factors based on practical result oriented experience and underlines the benefits su ch experience contributes to the RO plants performance, availability a nd consequently to its total water cost.