Small Scale RO Systems

If anyone can provide information on small scale sea water or brackish water RO systems I too would be interested. Such a unit can do many wonders in this part of the world.

Try contacting Wanner Engineering Inc. at www.hydra-cell.com. I know their Hydra-Cell pump is used in small scale RO systems and I believe the US Navy use them on some of their submarines. They might be able to put you in touch with the system builders.

The site is only for Pumps not RO. Any pump manufacturer's pump can be used. Mostly Grundfos. I've just had R.0 plants 20 m3/hr x 2 nos made and used Grundfos Pumps, Metering Pumps etc. He is looking around for a small scale R.O inclusive of the pump.

Many years ago when I went sailing, I purchased a small RO unit that used a hand-pump to provide the energy. A LOT of work to get a gallon of water, but adaptable to alternative energy-input schemes (i.e., stationary bike- unfortunately, my sailboat was too small to accommodate a stationary bike!). Visit a local ship's chandlery (i.e., US Boat, West Marine)- they most likely have something for emergency water supply. The cost driver is the membrane. These are not cheap.

agua_doc: Check out the big box home improvement stores for under the sink Reverse Osmosis [RO] water systems. You would still need a pump.

Supplying such water for several hundred persons is NOT quite small scale except perhaps when contrasted with military thinking.

Distillation desalinization plants were manufactured for water supplies in the 'Gulf" area to supply the increasing population. May have had some RO plants too.

Water Purifiers and Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Systems

They have something to fill your bill !

My experience with under-counter RO systems leaves a lot to be desired...Based on chemical testing of the product, these are most likely not true RO systems, but more small-mesh filtration systems, utilizing low differential pressure. This, of course, applies only to a limited number of units marketed in Panama as RO systems, and there may be other under-counter systems that are true RO systems with which I am not familiar.

There are dozens of companies across the globe producing systems that will do this, and the behaviour of seawater RO membranes is well documented by the manufacturers and vendors of these things.

One needs to compare desalination against the prospects of obtaining potable water from other sources. In most cases, the long-term economics of seawater RO would dictate investment in other facilities instead. RO is more energy-intensive-per-unit-volume than many other methods.

There are some special cases. The island of Cyprus, for example, has a number of large municipal plants producing potable water by RO of Mediterranean Sea water. Ships and oil & gas platforms usually have their own water-makers, usually RO though evaporation is still used. Small units can also be had, operated by solar or even hand-pump, for cross-ocean rowing vessels.

http://www.htiwater.com/

It's possible that you are looking for the kind of product that Hydration Technologies offers. See their website above. Once you get past the Intro, it's quite interesting.

I met with one of the senior technical folks there a few years ago. It's a fascinating Forward Osmosis process, akin to how water is drawn by the sugar content of sap into the roots of a tree, up the trunk and out to the leaves. So, HTI has a system where dirty water (say after a hurricane or similar devastating situation) can be drawn through a membrane into a bag with a 'sugar' solution and the result is drinking water without an external power source.

Does this information help?

also check out the seawater greenhouse.

http://www.seawatergreenhouse.com

Two pilot studies underway