Case Studies

Removing organics, suspended particles, and dissolved minerals avoids scaling, which can damage and reduce the longevity of essential equipment. An integrated UF and RO solution drastically reduces turbidity, SDI, TDS, and TSS values, guaranteeing a biofilm-free boiler interior and imparting confidence in your operations.

In Northern Europe, surface water is treated for natural organic matter (NOM) removal, including color removal and TOC reduction, to produce drinking water. The removal of NOM from source waters is very important in drinking water treatment because it affects the color, taste and odor properties of water. A small community in Norway used TRISEP 8040-SBNF-TSA elements to remove NOM to produce safe drinking water.

A large municipal wastewater treatment plant in Spain constructed a tertiary treatment facility for irrigation reuse, including an RO system. The RO system was installed using TRISEP X-20 membrane elements to convert high-fouling wastewater to high-quality irrigation water with long element life. The tertiary treatment plant, including robust desalination with X-20 membrane, continues to provide the region with high quality water for re-use.

A leading oil refinery in Southeast Spain chose TRISEP® X-20™ RO membrane elements to treat high-fouling wastewater from boiler water production plant. X-20 membrane elements were selected for this system because they showed the best combination of high salt rejection and continuous high permeate flow for the duration of the study, with the least decline in permeate flow over time on the high-fouling feed water.

Diminishing fresh water availability in the face of increasing population and agricultural demands has been a persistent concern for communities in Spain. TRISEP X-20 Low-Fouling RO Elements were selected by a major municipality in Valencia, Spain to treat municipal wastewater for reuse. The original set of X-20 elements have provided consistent permeate flow and quality for over 11 years.

Micropollutants such as antibiotics, X-ray contrast media, hormones, pesticides, and microplastics occur in wastewater in the nano- to microgram range. Conventional wastewater treatment plants cannot remove micropollutants sufficiently without an additional treatment step, such as activated carbon in combination with BIO-CEL MBR.

A municipal wastewater treatment plant in Northern Ireland retrofit their existing plant with BIO-CEL L-1 modules while keeping the plant operational. The discharge limit for BOD and suspended solids is very strict as this site is located near a popular beach.

A coal-fired power plant in the Midwest conducted an ultrafiltration (UF) pilot study on river water to qualify an alternative source for their boiler water make-up. After the successful river water pilot study, the power plant tested the feasibility of iSep 500 UF modules to treat their ash pond water.

A food processing plant in Europe is using BIO-CEL MBR modules and TurboClean RO spiral elements to treat and reuse production wastewater. With the installed combination of MBR and RO, the wastewater can be treated on-site to a quality level that is suitable to be reused as process water. The operators are happy with the performance and especially the stability of the systems.

Rivers and surface waters provide a convenient and reliable water source for both municipal and industrial waters. However, rainfall and seasonal changes may affect microbial activity, organic loading and turbidity spikes, posing a problem for most treatment technologies.

Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are often used in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) that experience high, transient peak flows. Since MBRs are generally designed to handle peak flows only twice that of the average daily flow rating, a peak flow management process using ultrafiltration modules was developed to operate in conjunction with MBR systems.

Ox Mountain Landfill is a Sanitary Waste Disposal Facility in Half Moon Bay, California and processes landfill-impacted groundwater. The state-regulated total suspended solids (TSS) limit for the Groundwater Treatment System (GWTS) is 27 mg/L, which is difficult to achieve in a sedimentation basin. Instead, InviroTreat Inc., the design engineer for the GWTS, proposed a low-footprint ultrafiltration system to remove the iron-hydroxide solids.

In light of ongoing fresh water shortages and stricter discharge regulations, oil & gas producers have taken on new sustainability goals that place greater emphasis on water conservation and reuse. The high oil and solids tolerance of iSep membranes enables oil & gas producers to reuse produced and flow back waters, preserving valuable fresh water resources while reducing disposal costs.