AWWA MTC53916

In Port Hueneme, California, a state-of-the-art desalination facility uses threebrackish water desalination technologies: reverse osmosis (RO); nanofiltration(NF); and, electrodialysis reversal (EDR), operated side-by-side to produce up to4 million gallons per day (MGD) of high quality drinking water. The BrackishWater Reclamation Demonstration Facility (BWRDF) is the cornerstone of the PortHueneme Water Agency's (PHWA) Water Quality Improvement Program. In addition toproviding desalted water for local use, the BWRDF also serves as a full-scaleresearch and demonstration facility. Operating three full-scale desalination technologies in parallelat the same site and on the same source water has made direct comparisonpossible. During the course of the plant's operation, the PHWA staff collectsdata on operating costs and performance characteristics of the three membranesystems. This provides a basis for the comparison of these three desalinationtechnologies that can then be used by water purveyors to determine whichtechnology best suits their local conditions. This paper provides an overview ofthe PHWA BWRDF, highlights some lessons learned after two years of operation andpresents a comparison of the three desalination technologies. Over the two yearsof operation the BWRDF produced greater than 3-MGD of high quality drinkingwater. In the first year, the facility experienced problems with biofouling in theRO and NF membranes and the EDR system had the lowest O&M cost at $0.34 per 1000gallons (k/gal). In the second year operation changes were made to resolve thebiofouling and now the RO and NF system have the lowest O&M cost at $0.31/kgal. Includes 3 references, tables, figure.