ANGLIAN WATER MEMBRANE HYBRID SYSTEM FOR THE SOFT DRINKS INDUSTRY

This paper examines the general technical aspects of membrane technolo gy when applied to the soft drinks industry. A full scale plant has be en installed at Wells Soft Drinks in Northampton, the site is fed from a surface water source within the Anglian Water region. The new water treatment plant installed at Wells Soft Drinks was supplied and commi ssioned by Anglian Water in 1997. It is a Membrane Hybrid System. Deve loped by Anglian Water Innovation in the UK, the Membrane Hybrid Syste m is a combination of ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis equipped wit h spiral wound ultra low pressure reverse osmosis thin film composite membranes and spiral wound ultrafiltration membranes (see Fig.1). For water treatment within the soft drinks industry, membrane applications have many advantages over the conventional ion exchange plants used i n the industry.