Invisible Particles Foul Up Desalination Plants
Tiny organic particles called Transparent Exopolymer Particles (TEP) may be quietly reducing the efficiency of desalination and water treatment plants. This research update looks at how these small, sticky particles drive biofouling and what IOLR scientists are doing to address the problem.
From Lake Kinneret to the World's Waters
Years ago, Dr. Tom Berman, then director of the KLL, led a pioneering three-year study of small transparent organic particles in Lake Kinneret. His research showed that the lake contained up to 25 million sugar- and protein-bearing particles per liter in every season, and that these particles played a meaningful role in the lake's ecosystem. Since TEP were first identified in the ocean in 1993, they have been found in virtually every natural body of water, including seas, lakes and rivers.
A Sticky Problem for Water Treatment
These microscopic particles are everywhere, extremely numerous, tiny and adhesive. Many carry bacteria, giving them exactly the traits needed to trigger biofouling: the buildup of biofilm, a thin and often stubborn bacterial layer, on wet surfaces. Biofilm causes serious problems in many kinds of water treatment plants. Desalination facilities and water treatment operations usually depend on membrane filtration as the final purification stage, and over time biofilm layers form on those membranes and eventually clog them. To limit biofilm growth, source water is filtered and chemically treated before final membrane filtration, making biofilm a major and costly challenge for the desalination and water treatment industry.
A New Way to Gauge Pretreatment Efficiency
Since TEP are likely involved in biofilm formation, Dr. Berman proposed that tracking TEP levels could be a useful indicator of how well pretreatment is working. KLL researchers are now working with IDE Technologies Ltd on a new approach called Microbial Support Capacity, which measures how effectively different pretreatments reduce the potential for biofilm to develop on sensitive filtration membranes. The index is based on measuring TEP levels along with a few other biologically based parameters in treated water. This new evaluation method is being tested at the KLL using water samples from the recently commissioned Ashkelon Desalination facility, currently the largest operating desalination plant in the world. The KLL team aims to simplify the tests, make them easier to use, and adapt them for the filtration and water treatment industries. Refining the Microbial Support Capacity index for industrial use will let plant designers, managers and operators routinely assess the efficiency of treatment stages in facilities vulnerable to microbial buildup.
More Research Updates
- New IOLR Research Vessel R/V Bat Galim Goes To Sea - June 8th, 2016
- New Seagliders revolutionize ocean data gathering - June 1st, 2016
- Introducing IOLR's new scientists - March 1st, 2016
- Underwater Gardening – Saving Coral Reefs - October 8th, 2010
- A Generic Integrated Mariculture System for the Mediterranean & Red Sea - October 5th, 2010
- Invisible Particles Foul Up Desalination Plants - October 5th, 2010
- Revealing the Red-Tide-Like Phenomenon in Lake Kinneret - February 17th, 2008
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Understanding how TEP and biofilm interact with filtration membranes helps plant operators plan better pretreatment and protect sensitive equipment. The KLL's work on the Microbial Support Capacity index is one step toward practical tools that make those decisions easier for the water treatment industry.