Feed Water Quality Analysis

Before any water treatment program can begin, it is important to analyse the water quality and characteristics, to determine necessary pre-treatment measures and to design the most efficient and cost-effective RO system for the specific client needs. Purely RO can perform any of the following tests:

FEED WATER ANALYSIS

Desalination pumps and membranes react differently to different chemical constituents, so a chemical analysis of the untreated, unfiltered water is important in developing an efficient, cost-effective water treatment system. Our analysis measures water temperature and pH, as well as dissolved solids such as:

• Ammonia (NH4)
• Nitrate (NO3)
• Potassium (K)
• Chloride (Cl)
• Sodium (Na)
• Fluoride (F)
• Magnesium (Mg)
• Sulfate (SO4)
• Calcium (Ca)
• Boron (B)
• Strontium (Sr)
• Silicon (SiO2)
• Barium (Ba)
• Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
• Carbonate (CO3)
• Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
• Bicarbonate (HCO3)

SILT DENSITY INDEX (SDI)

The SDI measures the fouling potential of suspended solids in feed water. A filter is exposed to the feed water under pressure, and filtration rates are calculated and recorded. While RO systems can operate at SDI values up to 5.0, reduced membrane life can be expected due to fouling at an SDI over 3.0 and a pretreatment system is necessary.

TURBIDITY

Turbidity is a measurement of the amount of suspended solids in water, sometimes described as "cloudiness". Feed water is exposed to a light-measuring instrument called a nephelometer, with particle density measured in NTU's. In general, an NTU reading of < 1.0 is the allowable standard for drinking water.