Application of ultra low pressure reverse osmosis (ULPRO) membrane to water and wastewater

There is a worldwide grave concern about water pollution control. To mitiga te the water scarcity, in arid zones and in the areas with no other sources but brackish water, reverse osmosis technology has played an important rol e. In an effort to reduce the cost of energy requirement for RO operation, nanofiltration has been developed. Until recently the nanofiltration has be en used in water softening and removal of disinfection byproduct (DBO). Use of nanofiltration to desalinate brackish water has been ruled cut due to l ow rejection of salts. The introduction of ultra-low pressure reverse osmos is membrane, categorically a nanofiltration, has widened the horizon of usi ng the nanofiltration in desalinating brackish water as well as surface wat er and wastewater. This development ensures the increase in flux due to imp rovement in active surface layer formation with the application of very sma ll pressure. The surface charge and hydrophilicity on the surface material of the membrane have shown better flux stability in the high fouling condit ions. With the addition of higher flux and higher rejection based on the sa me chemistry, ULPRO has made another step forward. This introduction will c ertainly reduce the operation cost and, more importantly, improve the overa ll reliability of the RO system. Application of nanofiltration is broadened to surface water treatment, wastewaters for nutrient removal and heavy met al rejection from wastewater.