The inner workings of the modular water treatment unit .
Images courtesy of Pall
Plug and play water treatment units
While municipalities bemoan that they cannot supply safe , potable water to their communities , plug-and-play treatment units are sitting in Switzerland , waiting for deployment …
By Kim Kemp
Last year , Pall Water unveiled a new portfolio of mobile water solutions that can be rapidly deployed to ensure safe , reliable water production for communities and industries around the world , with flexible packaging and pre-engineered systems for both temporary and permanent deployments . The company is spearheading global efforts to make reused water safe to use and drink around the world — vital in drought-stricken South Africa .
Prei Instrumentation is a recognised leader in the process , measurement , and control industry , and is the South African distributor for the online liquid analysers from Hach Company , which is part of the Danaher Water Quality Group , together with Pall Corporation and the Trojan Group .
This Water Quality Group is working with the existing established companies and their distributors to market these technologies . Hach introduced the MD of Prei Instrumentation , Steve Herbst , to the Pall technology , which he describes as comparing favourably with existing technologies .
“ With a desalination plant , reverse osmosis membranes are used to treat water . But you must first clean the water before it passes through the reverse osmosis membrane ,” he says and continues , “ The biggest desalination plant in the world is in Israel . Above the plant is a massive sand bed , through which the saltwater initially passes before going through the reverse osmosis membranes .” This pre-filtration is necessary for reverse osmosis .
The Pall filters cut out all pre-filtration , doing away with all the chemicals to settle out the solids , before the water passes through the reverse osmosis membranes .
He points out that the system is not designed to do reverse osmosis , “ but in the drought-stricken areas where there are wastewater treatment plants ( as in Cape Town ), we can put that treated wastewater through the Pall filters and get quality potable water . You can also buy the plant / container , which is USD525 000 , or you can rent it for USD25 000 per month , and when the drought is over , you just hand it back ,” he adds .
To ship the unit from Switzerland ( via Belgium and France ) costs approximately USD8 000 .
38 Water Sewage & Effluent September / October 2017