Benefits and hurdles of using brackish groundwater as a drinking water source in the Netherlands

Abstract

The production of fresh drinking water from brackish groundwater by reverse osmosis (BWRO) is becoming more attractive, even in temperate climates. For successful application of BWRO, the following approach is advocated: (1) select brackish source groundwater with a large volume and a composition that will yield a concentrate (waste water) with low mineral saturation; (2) maintain the feed water salinity at a constant level by pumping several wells with different salinities; (3) keep the permeate-to-concentrate ratio low, to avoid supersaturation in the concentrate; (4) keep the system anoxic (to avoid oxidation reactions) and pressurized (to prevent formation of gas bubbles); and (5) select a confined aquifer for deep well injection where groundwater quality is inferior to the membrane concentrate. This approach is being tested at two BWRO pilot plants in the Netherlands. Research issues are the pumping of a stable brackish source water, the reverse osmosis system performance, membrane fouling, quality changes in the target aquifer as a result of concentrate disposal, and clogging of the injection well. First evaluations of the membrane concentrate indicate that it is crucial to understand the kinetics of mineral precipitation on the membranes, in the injection wells, and in the target aquifer.

Advances in Membrane Distillation for Water Desalination and Purification Applications

“…Recently a consortium of industry, academic institutions, technology providers, and water utilities was formed in Qatar to evaluate the suitability of MD for seawater desalination in the region [311]. The research study was carried out in multi-phases including bench scale studies, model development, low grade waste heat evaluation and pilot scale demonstration.…”

“…One of the major concerns for BWRO is the disposal of the RO concentrate, arising from the presence of anti-scalants, pre-treatment chemicals, and remoteness from the sea or another economically viable concentrate disposal options [292,311]. The volume of concentrate produced depends on factors such as source water quality (e.g., salinity level) and technology utilized.…”

Consequences and mitigation of saltwater intrusion induced by short-circuiting during aquifer storage and recovery in a coastal subsurface

“…In order to re-enable recovery of freshwater, the deepest wells of the MPPWs (AW1S3 and AW2S3) were transformed to interception wells or "Freshkeepers" (Stuyfzand and Raat, 2010;Van Ginkel et al, 2014), abstracting the intruding saltwater and injecting this in a deep injection well in Aquifer 2 at of distance 200 m from the ASR site. This way, an acceptable water quality (Cl < 50 mg L −1 ) could be recovered at AW2S1 and AW1S2 again (from 15 April onwards).…”

“…Confined and semi-confined aquifers are increasingly being used for storm water and (Ferguson, 1990), brine disposal (Stuyfzand and Raat, 2010;Tsang et al, 2008) and storage of freshwater (aquifer storage and recovery or ASR; Pyne, 2005), heat (aquifer thermal energy storage or ATES; Bonte et al, 2011a), and CO 2 (Steeneveldt et al, 2006). Additionally, they are perforated for exploitation of deep fossil and geothermal energy and traditionally used for abstraction of drinking and irrigation water.…”

Pharmaceutical removal: synergy between biological and chemical processes for wastewater treatment

“…In addition to the reuse for drinking water purposes, reuse of WWTP effluents for other purposes such as irrigation, industrial application, urban uses and environmental purposes like flow restoration have also been extensively studied [202]. Even in countries like the Netherlands where droughts and water scarcity are no major issues the debate of using non-traditional drinking water sources is conducted as costs for drinking water production increase due to environmental issues such as pollution and salinization of aquifers [253].…”