Reverse Osmosis: A Guide for the Nonengineering Professional

Book Preface

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a membrane treatment process primarily used to separate dissolved solutes from water. To explain RO in its most basic form, Reverse Osmosis: A Guide for the Nonengineering Professional is written in an engaging, highly readable style. It is ideal for municipal managers, departmental and administrative assistants, equipment sales and marketing personnel, customer services representatives, and members of utility municipality boards, as well as professionals and general readers with little or no science or engineering background.

Reverse osmosis is most commonly known for its use in drinking water purification, particularly with regard to removing salt and other effluent materials from water molecules. In addition to explaining the role of RO in desalination and other freshwater applications, this text also discusses RO applications in the food industry, maple syrup production, hydrogen production, reef aquariums, and window cleaning.

Many people have heard about RO or have studied osmosis in biology classes. Unfortunately, though, there exists a wide gap in knowledge about RO, and personnel who should have a basic understanding of membrane technology instead know little about the process or have not kept pace with advancements in RO technology and applications. This is especially the case for those without science or engineering backgrounds. The concept of ion exchange technology may be familiar to some, but they may not understand how such systems actually operate. Reverse Osmosis: A Guide for the Nonengineering Professional is designed to fill this gap.

The book begins with a comprehensive discussion of the nuts and bolts that make up RO systems and then describes the concepts involved in RO system operation. It also provides a description of contaminants found in water today, with particular emphasis on pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). PPCP contaminants are not typically removed from wastewater by conventional treatment processes; however, they can be removed by sophisticated membrane filtration processes. The text then further clarifies the process, the function the process serves in water or wastewater treatment, and the basic equipment required. It details how the processes fit together within a drinking water or wastewater treatment system and surveys the fundamental concepts that make up water and wastewater treatment processes as a whole.

By design, this text does not include in-depth surveys of the associated mathematics, engineering, chemistry, or biology; the math operations presented here are included simply to aid in understanding what might otherwise be complex explanations. The numerous illustrations, as well as an extensive glossary of terms, further contribute to comprehending the concepts and processes. The book is presented in conversational style to ensure that there is no failure to communicate with the reader. Failure to communicate is not an option

Contents

• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 Reverse Osmosis: The Nuts and Bolts
• Chapter 3 Reverse Osmosis and Filtration Spectrum
• Chapter 4 Reverse Osmosis Equipment and System Configuration
• Chapter 5 Water Contaminants
• Chapter 6 Water Quality Standards
• Chapter 7 Conventional Water and Wastewater Treatment
• Chapter 8 RO Applications and Concentrate Disposal