Long-time membrane experience at Torreele’s water re-use facility in Belgium

Abstract

At the Torreele facility the Intermunicipal Water Company of Veurne-Ambacht (IWVA) treats secondary wastewater effluent for indirect potable re-use via groundwater recharge in the dune water catchment of St. André. The treatment combining ultrafiltration (UF), using the submerged ZeeWeed system, and reverse osmosis (RO), using brackish water low-energy membranes, enables to produce a high-quality infiltration water, and this leads to sustainable groundwater management of the dune water catchment of St. André. Since start-up, in July 2002, different measures have been taken to optimize the membrane performance. Intermittent use of air on the UF system and variable recovery on the RO system reduced energy consumption per cubic metre produced. The latter also resulted in lower chemical consumption as did the pauses in chloramination. The backwash water and RO concentrate are discharged into a brackish canal, together with the effluent that is not reused. Since 2003, IWVA performed tests using natural systems to further treat this water.

Keywords:

• Membranes
• Water reuse
• Managed aquifer recharge
• Concentrate treatment

Acknowledgements

The European Commission is acknowledged for co-funding the RECLAIM WATER project. The project should not have been possible without the support of Aquafin, who is responsible for wastewater treatment in Flanders, and off course the personnel of IWVA in general and the dedicated operator in particular.

Notes

Membranes in Drinking and Industrial Water Treatment—MDIW 2010, June 27–30, 2010, Trondheim, Norway