Plant Optimization for an Inland Industrial RO Reuse Facility

The Tampa Electric Company (TEC) recently commissioned a $100 million industrial water reuse facility at their Polk Power Station located approximately 40 miles southeast of Tampa, Florida. The project includes a wetlands water intake and pumping station, 15-mile transmission pipeline, advanced reverse osmosis (RO) desalination water treatment system and deep underground injection system for RO concentrate disposal. As an alternative to fresh ground water, the TEC facility uses RO to lower total dissolved solids from reclaimed water stored in a wetlands tertiary treatment system and formerly discharged to the Alafia River. RO pretreatment consists of high rate clarification and multimedia filtration with added chemical feeds for disinfection and RO feed water conditioning. With a low quality surface water source, high level and reliable pretreatment is paramount for sustainable RO operation. Initial RO performance showed a high rate of fouling with a very short 1-week run time before offline cleaning was required. Through a series of methodical investigations a good working understanding was established for the high RO fouling nature and pretreatment requirements for this challenging water supply. Over the course of multiple runs, RO run times were incrementally improved to between 1 to 2 months duration. This paper presents treatment optimization results from plant start-up and commissioning and ongoing efforts to further enhance RO performance at this new industrial water reuse facility.

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