Design of Intermittently Operated Reverse Osmosis System and Membrane Coatings for Enhanced Fouling Mitigation

Access to potable water is becoming an increasingly important issue, especially in communities residing in remote, off-grid locations. The use of solar powered reverse osmosis systems has been shown to be a viable solution to delivering clean drinking water. There is a need to improve the fouling resistance of the membranes to reduce costs, maintain water quality, and keep water output reliable. Membrane coatings have been shown to enhance antifouling properties, but more research is required.

A lab-scale reverse osmosis (RO) system is developed to enable testing and monitoring of intermittent water treatment processes. Multiple sensors used to measure water quality and permeate flow were incorporated inline to gather data in real time. Membrane coating technology used to improve treatment performance through enhanced antifouling properties was studied. Several coating possibilities were considered for criteria such as: cost, antifouling & anti-scaling properties, and water output quality.