Drinking Water

Desalination of ground or surface water, including rivers, lakes, wetlands and oceans, is increasingly being done to provide drinking water due to the shortage of fresh water supplies. According to the World Health Organization (2011), shortage of fresh water supplies is “…estimated to affect one in three people on every continent of the globe, and almost one fifth of the world’s population live in areas where water is physically scarce.”

Boron is a compound widely distributed within the environment both from natural sources and increasingly from industrial activities. In minute concentrations, it serves as an important micro-nutrient for living organisms. However, in sufficient quantities, it has been shown to have adverse health effects on human beings as well as plants and animals. As a result, boron removal has become an increasingly important compound of concern within water treatment.

Membrane technology has become more widely accepted in seawater and brackish water treatment applications due to more stringent water quality standards, a decrease in adequate water resources and an emphasis on water reuse. New water quality requirements have challenged membrane manufacturers to develop special products for selective removal of hardness, natural organic matter, trihalomethanes (THMs) color and many other contaminants. Beverage producers in particular, must remove color and THMs from their beverage make-up water to meet FDA requirements.

In Northern Europe, 90% of the population is served with treated surface or lake water. Because surface waters typically contain natural organic matter (NOM), a complex mixture of organic compounds (i.e. decomposing vegetative materials and animal matter) and color, this water must be treated to produce safe drinking water.

NOM removal from source waters is very important in drinking water treatment because it affects the color, taste and odor properties of water, contributes to disinfection byproduct formation, increases chlorine or disinfectant demand and affects biological regrowth in distribution systems.