The WateReuse Research Foundation in the USA recently released three new reports, including one on direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) using ceramic membranes:
Direct Contact Membrane Distillation for Water Reuse Using Nanostructured Ceramic Membranes (07-05)
Principal investigator: Dr Mark R Wiesner, Duke University.
The project is intended to inform the water reuse community on the benefits and tradeoffs of using ceramic membranes in DCMD. Its objectives were to
· Develop and characterize ceramic membranes to have the necessary chemical and physical properties for use in DCMD
· Integrate these membranes into a laboratory-scale unit
· Evaluate the performance of these membranes alongside a polytetrafluoroethylene polymeric counterpart during treatment of different synthetic solutions containing organic foulants as well as wastewater from the North Durham Water Reclamation Facility.
Desal Dialog: A Regulatory Workshop on Critical Issues of Desalination Permitting (10‑03)
Principal investigators:
Michael J Irlbeck, NRS Consulting Engineers Inc and
Nikolay Voutchkov, Water Globe Consulting Inc.
This report summarizes the results and recommendations of the Desal Dialog, a national outreach effort to utilities, regulators, and others regarding desalination permitting issues. Its primary objective was to conduct a national workshop for key desalination stakeholders, including utilities, regulators, and associations. The goal of the workshop was to facilitate a common understanding of desalination permitting issues and identify areas of common ground and agreement. This report includes 12 White Papers provided to participants.
Evaluation of Impact of Nanoparticle Pollutants on Water Reclamation (07-04)
Principal investigator: Dr Rajagopalan Ganesh, Kennedy/Jenks Consultants
The objective of this study was to obtain preliminary information on the fate and impact of manufactured nanomaterials in key water reclamation unit processes. The objective of this study was to obtain preliminary information on the fate and impact of manufactured nanomaterials in three key water reclamation unit processes (biological treatment, media filtration, and disinfection). Bench-scale studies were performed to evaluate the following:
· Do nanomaterials behave differently than conventional (dissolved/ionic) constituents in water reclamation processes?
· What is the impact of size of nanomaterials on water reclamation?
· Do different nanomaterials behave similarly in these treatment processes?