Drinking water supply through reverse osmosis desalination plants in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, India

The population in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu State (India) faces potable water scarcity throughout the year in general and acute drinking w ater problems in lean periods of the year. To mitigate this problem eleven reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants were installed in problem villages in the district. General performance of these eleven plants and in-depth e valuation of two plants was undertaken to focus attention on the physico-ch emical quality of water at various stages of treatment, present status with respect to operation and management (O & M) financial implications and ove rall management in a rural situation. The study indicated that performance of these RO plants was satisfactory in removing high TDS, though the efficiency deteriorated with time. The avera ge utilization of these RO plants since their installation was 46% as compa red to the design capacity, mainly due to non-availability of power in rura l areas, time lapsed in repairs of pumps, and non-availability of spares. T he average capital cost/m(3) and O & M cost/m(3) of product water from thes e eleven plants works out to Rs. 27.40 and Rs. 44.50 respectively; when pla nts are utilized as per the design capacity. These costs are high and not a ffordable by the rural population. The RO plants were socially acceptable s ince the population was satisfied with the treated water quality. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of the IAWQ. All rights reserve d.