Economic study of the treatment of surface water by small ultrafiltration units

The purpose of this work is to evaluate the possibility of utilising an ult rafiltration process for the treatment of water from the dam in the Kabylia region of Algeria and, in particular, for the provision of drinking water to people living in dispersed small villages. The water quality was determi ned by measuring turbidity, and natural organic matter concentration. The r esults obtained with an ultrafiltration process indicate that this techniqu e can considerably reduce suspended and organic matter. It also improves th e bacteriological quality of the treated water. An economic evaluation for ultrafiltration of surface water is presented. The economic study was perfo rmed for a drinking water unit of 20 m(3)/h. It was found that the cost per m(3) of treated water ($ 0.235/m(3)) obtained would not be excessively hig h for the states of the North African region.