Schoeman, JJSteyn, A2007-02-082007-06-072007-02-082007-06-072003-05-30Schoeman, JJ and Steyn, A. 2003. Nitrate removal with reverse osmosis in a rural area in South Africa. Desalination, vol 155(1), pp 15-260011-9164http://hdl.handle.net/10204/1649http://hdl.handle.net/10204/1649The nitrate-nitrogen concentration (>6 mgA) and the salinity (>1000 mg/l TDS) of many borehole waters in rural areas in South Africa are too high for human consumption. Therefore, an urgent need for water denitrification and water desalination exists in these areas. Reverse osmosis (RO), electrodialysis (ED), ion-exchange (lX) and certain biological technologies can be very effectively applied for water denitrification. Each of these technologies, however, has its own advantages and disadvantages. Reverse osmosis technology, has been selected for this study because the technology is well known in South Africa and it can be very effectively applied for water desalination. The objectives of this study were: to transfer RO technology through process demonstration performance for water denitrification and water desalination to people living in rural areas; to build capacity regarding the operation and maintenance of an RO application in a rural area; to produce a preliminary operational and maintenance manual for the operation of an RO unit in a rural environment; to train local operators to operate and maintain an RO plant in a rural environment; to evaluate stock watering as brine disposal option; and to determine the preliminary economics of the process. The following conclusions were drawn. It was demonstrated that the RO process could be very effectively applied for water denitrification and water desalination in a rural area. Nitrate-nitrogen was reduced from 42.5 mg/l in the RO feed to only 0.9 mg/l in the RO product water. The TDS of the RO feed was reduced from 1292 mg/l to 24 mg/l in the RO permeate. Therefore, excellent quality water could be produced for potable purposes. The RO brine at approximately 50% water recovery should be suitable for stock watering if the conditions for stock watering are met in terms of nitrate-nitrogen concentration, TDS and other constituent concentrations1106847 bytesapplication/pdfenCopyright: 2003 Elsevier Science BVNitrate-nitrogen concentrationsReverse osmosisBrine disposalWater denitrificationWater desalinationBiological technologiesWater resourcesSouth AfricaChemical engineeringArticleSchoeman, J., & Steyn, A. (2003). Nitrate removal with reverse osmosis in a rural area in South Africa. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/1649Schoeman, JJ, and A Steyn "Nitrate removal with reverse osmosis in a rural area in South Africa." (2003) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/1649Schoeman J, Steyn A. Nitrate removal with reverse osmosis in a rural area in South Africa. 2003; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/1649.TY - Article AU - Schoeman, JJ AU - Steyn, A AB - The nitrate-nitrogen concentration (>6 mgA) and the salinity (>1000 mg/l TDS) of many borehole waters in rural areas in South Africa are too high for human consumption. Therefore, an urgent need for water denitrification and water desalination exists in these areas. Reverse osmosis (RO), electrodialysis (ED), ion-exchange (lX) and certain biological technologies can be very effectively applied for water denitrification. Each of these technologies, however, has its own advantages and disadvantages. Reverse osmosis technology, has been selected for this study because the technology is well known in South Africa and it can be very effectively applied for water desalination. The objectives of this study were: to transfer RO technology through process demonstration performance for water denitrification and water desalination to people living in rural areas; to build capacity regarding the operation and maintenance of an RO application in a rural area; to produce a preliminary operational and maintenance manual for the operation of an RO unit in a rural environment; to train local operators to operate and maintain an RO plant in a rural environment; to evaluate stock watering as brine disposal option; and to determine the preliminary economics of the process. The following conclusions were drawn. It was demonstrated that the RO process could be very effectively applied for water denitrification and water desalination in a rural area. Nitrate-nitrogen was reduced from 42.5 mg/l in the RO feed to only 0.9 mg/l in the RO product water. The TDS of the RO feed was reduced from 1292 mg/l to 24 mg/l in the RO permeate. Therefore, excellent quality water could be produced for potable purposes. The RO brine at approximately 50% water recovery should be suitable for stock watering if the conditions for stock watering are met in terms of nitrate-nitrogen concentration, TDS and other constituent concentrations DA - 2003-05-30 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations KW - Reverse osmosis KW - Brine disposal KW - Water denitrification KW - Water desalination KW - Biological technologies KW - Water resources KW - South Africa KW - Chemical engineering LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2003 SM - 0011-9164 T1 - Nitrate removal with reverse osmosis in a rural area in South Africa TI - Nitrate removal with reverse osmosis in a rural area in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/1649 ER -