Cost assessment in SWRO desalination plants with a production of 600 m³/d in Canary Islands

Abstract

Water resources available in the island of Fuerteventura come mostly from small-scale capacity seawater desalination plants. Desalted water demand in the island has grown considerably in the last decade forcing managers to adapt desalinated water supply constantly. Additionally, the operating cost of the plants is relevant. The staff, chemical consumption, cartridge filter, and membrane replacement cost are essential in order to establish more efficient operation conditions of a reverse osmosis desalination plant. This article aims to study and compare the mentioned cost of six different seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants with the same production of 600 m³/d in the island of Fuerteventura. The results show for each of the six cases how costs can be reduced and the essential role of automation dealing with the staff cost with the particular capacity of 600 m³/d.

Keywords:

• Seawater
• Reverse osmosis
• Desalination plants
• Operating data
• Normalization

Notes

Presented at EuroMed 2015: Desalination for Clean Water and Energy Palermo, Italy, 10–14 May 2015. Organized by the European Desalination Society.