Pressurized Ultrafiltration Membrane Performance at the Ventura, California Demonstration Plant

Severe drought over the last five years in California have forced municipalities to search for alternate sustainable sources of potable water. In January 2014, Governor Brown declared a drought state of emergency and directed state agencies to take all necessary actions to respond to drought conditions. Part of the series of actions were to invest in new technologies that will make California more drought resilient. Numerous pilot studies have emerged where municipal wastewater is converted to potable water using a multi-barrier approach including hollow fiber Ultrafiltration (UF), Reverse Osmosis (RO) and an Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) for Direct or Indirect Potable Reuse (DPR / IPR) future applications. DPR plants would send the final treated water directly into a drinking water distribution system, whereas IPR plants would send the final treated water to an aquifer or surface water source for a period of time before being treated by a separate Public Water System (PWS). In addition to the pilot studies, several demonstration and full-scale plants have also been built in recent years based on the knowledge gained from pilot studies. Ultrafiltration is one of the main unit operations in these DPR/IPR systems. This paper will specifically discuss detailed operations of the Ventura UF pilot unit in Ventura, California. Understanding the operating parameters and design options available of the UF system in these plants will assist Utilities in their choice of membrane products for planning an advanced water purification facility.

This presentation is available to AMTA Members only.