Antiscalant cost and maximum water recovery in reverse osmosis for different inorganic composition of groundwater

Abstract

Groundwater sources play a very important role in the Canary Islands. In fact the 80% of the reverse osmosis desalination plants in Gran Canaria are to treat brackish water. In water desalination processes, water recovery is one of the most important indexes for RO system design. But this is not always the most convenient from the point of view of the operating costs. This article aims to estimate the antiscalant/dispersant specific costs considering the maximum recovery levels for reverse osmosis systems. The products (Antiscalant A and B) have been evaluated as these sorts of products are most commonly used considering the inorganic composition of the different groundwater bodies in this island. The silica, calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate are the most commonly found salts in the groundwater of Gran Canaria. In most cases, silica had the highest effect on the antiscalant/dispersant specific costs, followed by calcium carbonate.