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Did you know?
Reverse osmosis is the finest water filtration method known. This process will allow the removal of particles as small as ions from a solution. It is used to purify water and remove salts and other impurities in order to improve the color, taste or properties of the fluid. R.O. uses a membrane that is semi-permeable, allowing the fluid that is being purified to pass through it, while rejecting other ions and contaminants from passing
. This technology uses a process known as crossflow to allow the r.o. membrane to continually clean itself. This is the reason of why an r.o. element can last many years before clogging or need replacement. This water purification process requires a driving force to push the fluid through the membrane, and the most common force is household water pressure or pressure from a booster pump. The higher the pressure, the larger the driving force and efficiency.

 
   
 
 

The "Truth" on our water
Contaminants and health effects
Water quality problems and solutions
Sources of our drinking water
Standards for drinking water
Hard and soft water
pH value of water

Filtration OR Purification?
Myth on minerals and water
Popular filtration methods explained
How to test your water pressure
How to set up your own well
Swimming/chlorine: protecting your skin and hair
How tap water is treated and delivered

The bottled water purification process
Safe to drink the water from a private well?
How Filters can prolong the life of water pipes
Drinking water quality and acid rain
More Topics...

Can you make seawater drinkable?

Anyone who has ever seen a great, or even not so good movie about life on the ocean knows that humans just can't drink seawater. After all, it's full of salt that typically dehydrates the human body. But what if we could make seawater safer to drink? It turns out that we can and the process is called desalination. Desalination is a process that removes dissolved minerals (including but not limited to salt) from seawater, brackish water, or treated wastewater. A number of technologies have been developed for desalination, including reverse osmosis (RO), distillation, electrodialysis, and vacuum freezing. So why is seawater such an attractive water resource?

Here's a few reasons why...Seawater provides an unlimited, reliable water supply for coastal populations worldwide; brackish water is a plentiful, relatively drought-proof water resource for inland populations and reduces dependency on imported water. And, of all the Earth's water, 97 percent is salt water, only 1 percent is fresh water available for humans to drink, and 2 percent is frozen. Of the more than 7,500 desalination plants in operation worldwide, 60% are located in the Middle East. The world's largest plant in Saudi Arabia produces 128 MGD of desalted water. In contrast, 12% of the world's capacity is produced in the Americas, with most of the plants located in the Caribbean and Florida.

To date, only a limited number of desalination plants have been built along the California coast, primarily because the cost of desalination is generally higher than the costs of other water supply alternatives available in California (e.g., water transfers and groundwater pumping). However, as drought conditions occur and concern over water availability increases, desalination projects are being proposed at numerous locations in the state. Desalination costs are decreasing as technology improves and more plants are built. Today there are more than 15,000 desalination plants in 120 countries. The desalination market is forecast to grow more than $70 billion in the next 20 years. About half of the world's desalted water is produced with heat to distill fresh water from seawater.

The distillation process mimics the natural water cycle in that salt water is heated, producing water vapor that is in turn condensed to form fresh water. One such treatment process is called Multi-Stage Flash Distillation. Another desalination treatment process with the most expanded use is membrane-based reverse osmosis,. In this process, pressure is applied to the water, which allows water to flow through a membrane, leaving the ions, salts, and other dissolved solids and nonvolatile organics behind. Some examples of U.S. cities currently using, or planning to use desalination include: Tampa Bay Water has constructed a 25-million-gallon-per-day desalination facility in Apollo Beach in Hillsborough County, FL. The facility began operating intermittently in March 2003 and is expected to be fully functional by 2006; El Paso Water Utilities and Fort Bliss officials are collaborating to build the country's largest inland desalination plant. The plant will draw brackish water from an underground aquifer that provides about 40 percent of El Paso's municipal water supply. Construction of the 27.5-million-gallon-per-day facility began in September 2005 and should be completed in 2007;The Groundwater Recovery Enhancement and Treatment (GREAT) program in Oxnard, CA will blend desalted groundwater with high-quality water the city buys from a neighboring water district. Oxnard broke ground on the project in May 2004, and it should be completed in 2006 or 2007.

There are a number of ways to forestall this, however. One of those ways - desalination - is already being used across the country to stretch water supplies, clean up polluted water and provide protection for aquifers. The technique is ancient, dating back to the 4th century B.C. when, according to the National Water Supply Improvement Association, Greek sailors used simple evaporation to desalinate seawater. The technology, however, is far more modern. Desalination - separating saline water into fresh water and water containing the concentrated salts - is accomplished in two main ways: through distillation or use of membranes. Nearly 60 percent of the world's desalted water is produced via the first method by heating salty water to produce water vapor that is then condensed to form fresh water. The second process uses membranes to separate the salts from the water.

In reverse osmosis (RO) facilities, water is forced through bundles of membranes under pressure, leaving behind impurities. In electrodialysis reversal (EDR) plants, an electrical current transfers ions through membranes, resulting in desalted water and concentrates. Worldwide, desalting plants have the capacity to produce 3.5 billion gallons of water a day, nearly enough to provide 15 gallons a day for every American. Some nations, such as Saudi Arabia and Malta, desalt ocean water to produce fresh water for public and industrial consumption. In the United States, most desalting plants treat brackish water, a process that costs one-third to one-fourth as much as the treat involved in desalting ocean water. The product water is used for direct supply, reserves or groundwater recharge.

According to the American Desalting Association (ADA), other uses include irrigation, wastewater treatment and water purification. Hospitals, resorts, manufacturing plants, oil rigs and pleasure boats also employ desalination technology. During the Persian Gulf War, the Army had mobile desalination units that could produce 3,000 gallons per hour of potable water from brackish pools. In a 1988 report, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment suggested desalination could find application in treating contaminated groundwater, be it runoff from mines, agriculture, landfills or storage tanks. Of desalting in general, the report noted, "Desalination should be included as a viable option in any evaluation of water-supply alternatives."

 

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More Topics on Water Quality & Treatment:

General water treatment
Water quality defined
Hydrologic cycle of water
Meteoric water and cycle
Environmental factors of water
Age of ground water
Temperature of ground water
Water quality of surface water
Cistern water quality
Summary of water quality and the environment

Hard water explained
Hard water problems
Softened water energy savings
Hard water analysis
Hard water and soap curd
Ion exchange principles
More on water softening
Home water softener basics
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Lime soda ash water treatment
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3 Types of basic water
TDS-Total dissolved solids
Reverse osmosis treatment
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Carbon dioxide in water
Chloride and sulfate
Fluoride in drinking water
Hydrogen sulfide in water
Nitrate/ nitrogen in water
Oxygen in drinking water
Silica in drinking water
Sodium/methane/ phenol
Disease-causing organisms
Micro-organism in water1
Micro-organism in water2
Viruses in drinking water
Bacteria in drinking water
Water disinfect methods1
Water disinfect methods2
Water disinfect-chlorine
Dechlorinating filters Q&A
Palatability of water
Turbidity of drinking water
Mechanical filtration
Multi-media (depth filters)
Color of drinking water

Self maintenance guideline for private well owners
Water pressure matters
Common water usage of a household
Public water systems users
The guardian-Safe Drinking Water Act
The correct disinfection practice
Facts on home water treatment

Experiment1-water cycle purify our drinking water
Experiment2-pollution
Experiment3-waster filtration
Experiment4-build an aquifer
Experiment5-pollution control by using carbon
Experiment6-chlorination for disinfection
Experiment7-organisms in source water

Lead in your drinking water?
Arsenic in your drinking water
Read the bottled water label
Common bottled water treatment II
State certified lab for water testing
Earth water distribution
A natural setting for fish
Toxic algae treatment

Backcountry water drinking
Cl2 resistant pathogens
Common contaminants in the water system
Microbes & water quality
The origination of modern water filtration
Define Spring water & the safety
Water quality issues in Europe
Seawater drinkable?


How do water treatment plants work
How does Hydrology affect water
Barriers to quality water source management
Enough water for the future?
Water & agriculture..big connection
Climate change & the water
Negotiation of Water Rights
How pollution affect water?
How water prices were set?
How does Bay-scaping affect water
Nutrient management laws for water
Source Water Assessment Program
Water treatment techniques in the 1960's
Water treatment techniques in the 70's & 80's

How & Why Hazardous Events are monitored
America's ten most polluted rivers
Global Warming affects river & lakes
Define "Safe Water"
Potentially unsafe water in U.S. cities
Drink well water? Watershed management
Common microbes & the problems
To filter or purify water
The physical parameters of good water quality
The chemical parameters of good water quality
How does dissolved oxygen affect water quality
Micro meida filtration: An alternative to membrane filtration
The "hidden" dangers of water

Biological oxygen demand affect water quality
Coliform bacteria affect water quality
What do Nitrate & Phosphate do?
Nitrogen level affects a long way
Stone Fly & May Flies show the water quality
Good water quality need adequate phosphorous level
What is a healthy watershed
The role of biological in watershed
Rainwater...future drinking water?
Eco-technology..the future of water treatment
Emerging issues of water & infectious diseases

Dirty water or bombs-Iraq
Terrorist attacks on water supplies
Hygiene & your water
Eutrophication in water
Explained Solar Water Disinfection
Perchlorate removal
The methods of selecting the best home water treatement
The health effects from Pesticides
How is water filtered in natural
Pharmaceuticals & Hormones in the water
Disease resistant DNA in the water
Anti-microbials & the danger to your water
The truth:How safe is American water


Introuction to water chemistry
Water chemistry-Atom & Molecules
Nuclear atom-Protons, Neutrons, & Electrons
Basic atom in Flourine, Magnesium, & Chlorine
The Isotopes of Hydrogen
Electrons in chemical interaction
Ionic reaction in natural
Remove Ionic impurities from water
Chemical term explained-Valence

Water problems- Iron
Introduce the state of Iron
Water problems- Manganese
Removal of Iron & Manganese from water
Ion exchange explained
An effective treatment for medium concentrations of Iron
Sequestration-Polyphosphate treatement explained
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Water problems-Corrosion

Causes of corrosion
Corrosion on the common household used metals
Causes of corrosion explained II
The methods for controlling corrosion problem
Soft water to softened water
The needs for water testing
Correctly prepare water sample for testing
How to interpret water analysis I
How to interpret water analysis II
How to interpret water analysis III
How to interpret water analysis IV

How to choose the right plumber to install water softener
Recommended installation procedures-water softener
Installation equipments for the traditional water softener
Water softener installed in rural areas
Water softener installation-solution for pressure drop
Solution for pressure drop II- water softener






 


 

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