Arsenic removal by energy-efficient small-scale reverse osmosis units

摘要

A variety of membrane techniques among them nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), may be used for arsenic removal (for overview see [1]). NF and RO have the advantage using very "dense" membranes in such a way that other dissolved contaminants can be retained along with arsenic, resulting in a very high water quality. Some time ago several companies brought small-scale marine RO units (known as watermakers) to the market. They are applied to produce drinking water from seawater on boats and it is a well-proven technology, which works reliably at remote locations under difficult conditions (e.g. high salt concentration). Some of them can be powered by sustainable energy sources, such as PV or wind wheels, or can by operated manually.