Lesson 2 - Water
In this lesson we take a closer look at water from a utilities perspective. We will consider different forms of water treatment and look at the equipment required and operation thereof. The focus will be on treatment required for process and service water. Water chemistry will not be covered in any detail, as this is covered in Diploma Brewing Module 1.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Membrane Systems
It is becoming increasingly difficult to compare membrane technology to other technologies as it is constantly improving, and costs are decreasing all the time. The same can also be said for other more traditional methods of water treatment.
So, what can we say about membrane systems? Let us start with their many advantages:
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They take up far less space.
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They can remove a wide range of particles and molecules.
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They do not require huge amounts of chemicals.
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They are modular, so capacity can easily be increased.
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They can be run virtually continuously if the right configuration is used, reducing water storage requirements.
However, they also have some disadvantages:
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They can be difficult to clean, but improvements in membrane technology are allowing for hot water sterilisation with certain membranes.
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High costs associated with pumping and periodic (although increasingly less frequent) membrane replacement.
Blending
It is worth also mentioning that it may be possible to blend pure water from an RO filter with water from ultrafiltration to obtain water of the desired hardness.
Now you have reviewed the most common technologies, can you compare use of a sand filter and an ion exchange plant to use of ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis?
Give yourself 5–10 min to think about this, and then click ’Next’ to continue with this lesson.