scholarly journals Environmental Performance of Small-Scale Seawater Reverse Osmosis Plant for Rural Area Water Supply

Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Latifah Abdul Ghani ◽  
Nora’aini Ali ◽  
Ilyanni Syazira Nazaran ◽  
Marlia M. Hanafiah

Seawater desalination is an alternative technology to provide safe drinking water and to solve water issues in an area having low water quality and limited drinking water supply. Currently, reverse osmosis (RO) is commonly used in the desalination technology and experiencing significant growth. The aim of this study was to analyze the environmental impacts of the seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant installed in Kampung Pantai Senok, Kelantan, as this plant was the first installed in Malaysia. The software SimaPro 8.5 together with the ReCiPe 2016 database were used as tools to evaluate the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the SWRO plant. The results showed that the impact of global warming (3.90 kg CO2 eq/year) was the highest, followed by terrestrial ecotoxicity (1.62 kg 1,4-DCB/year) and fossil resource scarcity (1.29 kg oil eq/year). The impact of global warming was caused by the natural gas used to generate the electricity, mainly during the RO process. Reducing the environmental impact can be effectively achieved by decreasing the electricity usage for the seawater desalination process. As a suggestion, electricity generation can be overcome by using a high-flux membrane with other suitable renewable energy for the plant such as solar and wind energy.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2525
Author(s):  
Camila López-Eccher ◽  
Elizabeth Garrido-Ramírez ◽  
Iván Franchi-Arzola ◽  
Edmundo Muñoz

The aim of this study is to assess the environmental impacts of household life cycles in Santiago, Chile, by household income level. The assessment considered scenarios associated with environmental policies. The life cycle assessment was cradle-to-grave, and the functional unit considered all the materials and energy required to meet an inhabitant’s needs for one year (1 inh/year). Using SimaPro 9.1 software, the Recipe Midpoint (H) methodology was used. The impact categories selected were global warming, fine particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, freshwater ecotoxicity, mineral resource scarcity, and fossil resource scarcity. The inventory was carried out through the application of 300 household surveys and secondary information. The main environmental sources of households were determined to be food consumption, transport, and electricity. Food consumption is the main source, responsible for 33% of the environmental impacts on global warming, 69% on terrestrial acidification, and 29% on freshwater eutrophication. The second most crucial environmental hotspot is private transport, whose contribution to environmental impact increases as household income rises, while public transport impact increases in the opposite direction. In this sense, both positive and negative environmental effects can be generated by policies. Therefore, life-cycle environmental impacts, the synergy between policies, and households’ socio-economic characteristics must be considered in public policy planning and consumer decisions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 922-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Richard ◽  
E. Mayr ◽  
M. Zunabovic ◽  
R. Allabashi ◽  
R. Perfler

The implementation and evaluation of biological nitrification as a possible treatment option for the small-scale drinking water supply of a rural Upper Austrian community was investigated. The drinking water supply of this community (average system input volume: 20 m3/d) is based on the use of deep anaerobic groundwater with a high ammonium content of geogenic origin (up to 5 mg/l) which must be treated to prevent the formation of nitrites in the drinking water supply system. This paper describes the implementation and operation of biological nitrification despite several constraints including space availability, location and financial and manpower resources. A pilot drinking water treatment plant, including biological nitrification implemented in sand filters, was designed and constructed for a maximum treatment capacity of 1.2 m3/h. Online monitoring of selected physicochemical parameters has provided continuous treatment performance data. Treatment performance of the plant was evaluated under standard operation as well as in the case of selected malfunction events.


Author(s):  
Man Djun Lee ◽  
Pui San Lee

This chapter gives an overview about reverse osmosis membrane desalination technology and process. Desalination process can be considered as one of the crucial processes in obtaining fresh water to meet the increasing fresh water demand throughout the world. Desalination process begins with the intake of seawater or brackish water. The intake system usually comprises a pump and piping system. Then, the seawater goes through pre-treatment process. From there, the treated seawater will go through desalination process. The most widely used desalination is membrane desalination utilizing reverse osmosis membrane. After desalination process, the fresh water will go through more filtration and a series of post-treatment. Post-treatment consists of conditioning and stabilizing the water for distribution. This chapter concludes with a case study to illustrate the operation and sustainability of a small-scale desalination plant that utilizes brackish city polluted water as source.


Desalination ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 248 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 114-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.G.J. Heijman ◽  
E. Rabinovitch ◽  
F. Bos ◽  
N. Olthof ◽  
J.C. van Dijk

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