Previous in Forum: Nocera's Electrolysis   Next in Forum: Insulation on wire
Close

Comments Format:






Change Mode
Close

Subscribe to Discussion:

CR4 allows you to "subscribe" to a discussion
so that you can be notified of new comments to
the discussion via email.

Close

Rating Vote:







Add Vote
5 comments
Rate Comments: Nested
rkaiser7831
Participant

Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 4

Testing Water from an Experimental Desalination Unit

02/26/2010 1:06 PM

We are building an experimental desalination unit. What should I test the product for?

Of course PH, Sodium & TDS (total dissolved solids) but what else? Also any suggestions for instrumentation?

One of our goals is to keep the operating costs at a minimum.

Should mention our process is not Reverse osmosis.
Register to Reply
Pathfinder Tags: desalination instrumentation
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Good Answers:

These comments received enough positive votes to make them "good answers".

"Almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!
Mikerho
Guru
Hobbies - Musician - Engineering Fields - Chemical Engineering - New Member Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member Engineering Fields - Instrumentation Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Moses Lake, WA, USA, Thulcandra - The Silent Planet (C.S. Lewis)
Posts: 4216
Good Answers: 194
#1

Re: Testing water from an experimental desalination unit

02/26/2010 2:34 PM

Conductivity too. Purity is inversely proportional to conductivity.

__________________
 "Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone." - Ayn Rand
Register to Reply
2
PWSlack
Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Indeterminate Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: In the bothy, 7 chains down the line from Dodman's Lane level crossing, in the nation formerly known as Great Britain. Kettle's on.
Posts: 32175
Good Answers: 839
#2

Re: Testing water from an experimental desalination unit

02/26/2010 3:03 PM

If it's water for drinking, test for calcium. If it's under, oh, say 60ppm, re-harden it above 60ppm otherwise it will taste horrible.

If it's water for drinking, do a biological test. E.Coli. Staphylococcus. That sort of thing.

If it's water for drinking, consider adding chlorination units and/or ultraviolet disinfection downstream of it, depending on the qualities of the distribution system.

As for instrumentation and minimising operating costs, well, that all depends on how big it is and how long it runs, which isn't stated in the original posting.

__________________
 "Did you get my e-mail?" - "The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" - George Bernard Shaw, 1856
Register to Reply Good Answer (Score 2)
No more Good Answers. Go to first "Almost" Good Answer
DVader1000
Guru
Engineering Fields - Environmental Engineering - New Member APIX Pilot Plant Design Project - Member - New Member

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Anywhere Emperor Palpatine assigns me
Posts: 2774
Good Answers: 101
#3

Re: Testing Water from an Experimental Desalination Unit

02/26/2010 9:02 PM

pH, TDS, sodium, hardness, bacteria, suspended particles, temperature, dissolved gases etc. The list will depend upon the application of the water. Assuming that it's Grade E1 water, the purest grade available, it will be all of the above.

A fairly effective way to measure purity is water conductivity or resistivity.

__________________
 If only you knew the power of the Dark Side of the Force
Register to Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
No more "Almost" Good Answers.
kevinm
Guru

Join Date: May 2009
Location: Wolfe Island, ON
Posts: 1357
Good Answers: 109
#4

Re: Testing Water from an Experimental Desalination Unit

02/26/2010 10:56 PM

Experimental suggests novel. However if it involves distillation be sure to check volatile organic carry over if TOC on raw water is evident. I think PWSlack #2 is a GA. I would add that checking Heterotrophic plate count (HPC) would be a good idea no matter what method of treatment.

If you are using ion exchange you may want to consider amines after anion exchange. Amines can be problematic on start up. Check colour, turbidity, conductivity, pH, alkalinity, SO4 (raw and treated) CO3 (raw and treated) TOC (raw and treated). all parameters may affect treatment process. Have fun and good luck.

__________________
 If they want holy water, tell them to boil the hell out of it.
Register to Reply
raotr
Commentator
Popular Science - Weaponology - RaoTR

Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 71
#5

Re: Testing Water from an Experimental Desalination Unit

02/27/2010 1:01 PM

If you are not using RO, then probably you are using Ion Exchange. Anyways, you should also test for Redox potential, Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen and Phosphates if you are likely to use brackish water.
Register to Reply
Register to Reply
Have a Different Question?
5 comments

Good Answers:

These comments received enough positive votes to make them "good answers".

"Almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

DVader1000 (1); kevinm (1); Mikerho (1); PWSlack (1); raotr (1)

Previous in Forum: Nocera's Electrolysis   Next in Forum: Insulation on wire

Advertisement

Got Something to Say?
Ask a Question
Start a Discussion

Search this Forum
New Technologies & Research:
Go

CR4 Sections
Aerospace
BioMech & BioMed
Chemical & Material Science
Civil Engineering
Communications & Electronics
Education and Engineering Careers
Electrical Engineering
General Discussion
Instrumentation
Manufacturing
Mechanical Engineering
New Technologies & Research
Software & Programming
Sustainable Engineering
Transportation

Site Directories
Forum Directory
Blog Directory
User Group Directory
RSS Feeds

CR4 Rules of Conduct
CR4 FAQ
Site Glossary

Who's Online (94 right now)
Show Members
Advertisement