Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the water-purification industry's fastest-growing technology for removing inorganic salts, organic matter, and bacteria.

The advantages of a WPT Modular RO system are:

• Cost savings from eliminating labor and operating expenses associated with a daily, chemical-based resin-regeneration system.
• Reduced costs and environmental compliance risks associated with disposing regeneration chemicals.
• Reduced operational downtime or need for redundant systems as occurs during resin regeneration and system exhaust.
• Ability to handle any flow rate through modular design.
• Reduced installation and space utilization costs through pre-assembled vessels and pipes mounted on WPT's sturdy, space-saving SUPERSKID™ system.
• Reduced set up time and costs because WPT's onsite startup efforts can be completed in two to three days, instead of weeks.
• Onsite system monitoring costs through WPT's Smart RO™ automated control system.

Below illustrates a WPT SUPERSKID™ RO system.



Smart RO™ Ready to Ship. WPT mounts the preassembled vessels and pipes on a sturdy, tube-steel skid system that avoids open-channel deterioration and minimizes equipment footprint, assembly cost, and start-up time.

WPT matches the optimum combination of prefilters with Smart RO™ technology to develop the best solution for any water quality and application. Essentially, the RO system passes an influent stream through spiral wound, semi-permeable membranes under controlled high pressure. The purified water that passes through the membranes can either be used as a direct feed to a distribution system or stored in a reservoir.

Below illustrates the basic RO process in an annotated schematic diagram. WPT uses this basic process to develop a tailored RO solution for each project's water quality and application.

1. Feed water enters the first RO system. Antiscalant is introduced to the feed water, reducing performance losses inorganic scaling creates on the RO membrane.
2. The feed stream enters the cartridge filter, which reduces particulate and protects the RO membranes. The system automatically adjusts the reject valve and the membrane feed valve for proper permeate flux, through-membrane differential pressure, and temperature.
3. The RO pump forces feed water through the membrane under high pressure. The pump features a motor controller and a pressure switch. The pressure switch detects the pump suction pressure and transmits this information to the programmable logic controller (PLC), which automatically shuts off the pump motor at a pre-set, low-pressure value.
4. The membrane blocks the passage of dissolved salts and minerals and bacteria, allowing hydrogen and oxygen atoms to pass through and recombine as purified water molecules.
5. The rejected, mineral-rich stream concentrate is discharged to a drain.
6. The purified product is fed to the second RO system, further purifying water from the first-pass RO.
7. The Smart RO™ PLC operates and monitors the water-treatment system onsite or remotely via modem (or LAN). The PLC supports three operating modes for ultimate flexibility: Automatic, Semi-Automatic, and Manual.

"Smart" Technology
WPT "Smart" technology has revolutionized plant operation by:

• Reducing operator interaction.
• Providing remote data analysis and diagnosis.
• Automating other operational and maintenance activities.

For example, WPT's Smart RO™ systems feature automatic flow normalization, meaning the RO operates at its baseline and within design flow rates without operator intervention. This is achieved by Smart RO™ control of permeate and concentrate flows through two control valves, thereby keeping the system within normal operating range. The purpose of normalization is to reduce the daily operating data to a standard set of conditions, thereby allowing detection of trends in the performance of the RO system.

Smart RO™ can:

• Be monitored and operated remotely via modem.
• Include ion-specific analyses
• Be programmed to normalize operating parameters per ASTM D4516 Standard Practice for Standardizing RO Performance Data, and D4472 Standard Guide for Record keeping for RO Systems.

Additionally, Smart technology features on-line indexing of system performance. This tool allows the end-user to predict accurately when and how to maintain each system. Not only is it available on WPT's new equipment, but existing systems can be adapted as well.

Smart technology pays for itself by:

• Extending system life.
• Simplifying operations.
• Reducing manpower costs.

In these systems, the controls package records all the relevant data, analyzes it over time, compares it to the system requirements, and recommends maintenance and operational procedures.

Smart technology is just one of the ways WPT provides customers a more-efficient operation.

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