Citywide Water Curtailment in Newport, OR – The Mystery of a Membrane Fouling That Created an Emergency Situation

The City of Newport, OR (City) operates a 6-million gallon per day (MGD) low pressure membrane water treatment plant (WTP). Starting mid-May 2020, the City experienced a rapid change in water production leading to an emergency situation four weeks later that caused a citywide water curtailment. Newport is a small town with a population of 10,000, but has a large fishing fleet that uses two-thirds of the City’s water. In addition, Newport is a tourist town with an aquarium, breweries, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Operations Center. The City’s water usage is determined by its industries and therefore a considerable economic factor. Despite fully recovering the membranes through modified cleaning cycles, the membranes continued to foul and lowered the plant capacity after only a few hours of post cleaning operation. Independence Day weekend is a major tourist weekend for the City and instead of the normal 4.5 MGD only about 1 MGD could be produced. Fish processing factories, breweries, and other industries had to be shut down for two weeks to reduce demand.

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