Brackish Water Treatment for Small Community by Membrane Technology Virdiniya Rahmah Auliya(a), Bowo Djoko Marsono(a*), Adhi Yuniarto(a), Ervin Nurhayati(a)
a)Departement of Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia
*bowodjok[at]enviro.its.ac.id
Abstract
High salinity water, containing high TDS and chloride, is a common problem in coastal areas of Indonesia. Chloride content in water causes water to taste salty. This is occurred in a small community Tambak Cemandi Village, Sedati, Sidoarjo. Its groundwater has chloride content up to 3694.3 mg/L, hardness 2071 mg/L (CaCO3), and total coliform 7100 MPN/100 mL. Membrane technology has been accepted and is growing rapidly all over the world, not only in the water treatment but also in water desalination process. RO membranes account for more than 50% of the global capacity of the desalination plant which is around 70 million m3/day. This study aims to examine the basic concepts, principles, advantages, and disadvantages, as well as its application in brackish water treatment for drinking purposes. This research was conducted by literature review, secondary data analysis, and application of case studies. The case study is applied to small scale drinking water treatment (flow rate 0.2 L/second) with brackish raw water from groundwater in Tambak Cemandi Village where some of the population do not have access to safe drinking water. The study concludes that RO membranes with UF pre-treatment are adequate to treat 98%, 96%, and 100% of chloride content, hardness, and total coliform and fulfilled drinking water quality standard of Indonesia Ministry regulation. The treatment is able to serve 202 people with operational cost Rp. 1,198.00/people.day.
Keywords: desalination, membrane, drinking water treatment, brackish water treatment, membrane technology, reverse osmosis
