Reverse Osmosis Membrane Market To Increase Nearly 50% by 2020

The total market for membrane-based water treatment will grow from US$ 1.5 billion in 2009 to US$ 2.8 billion in 2020, according to a new report from Lux Research.

Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are the largest technology, but ultra-filtration (UF) is set for fast growth. Reaching US$ 1.3 billion in 2020, RO membranes will continue to be the biggest segment of the market. However, fueled in part by their promise in treating municipal waste water, industrial process water and other types of water, UF membranes should see a healthy 6.5% compound annual growth rate, expanding from US$ 0.4 billion in 2009 to nearly US$ 0.7 billion in 2020.

Recycled municipal water will boom. In regions of extreme water stress, such as India and China, the idea of municipal water recycling is catching on.

The Indian government alone plans to spend several billion dollars over the next 5-10 years treating the Ganges River. This expansion in municipal water filtration will drive growth in membranes for ultra-filtration, micro-filtration and low-pressure RO.

Zero Liquid Discharge System For Golf Course Irrigation WTP

Phase II has begun for the WTS 1.2 MGD reverse osmosis based water treatment plant that will feature (nearly) "Zero Liquid Discharge" of the RO water concentrate. Water Treatment Systems, Inc and Water Management Group, Inc. have shipped all of the process equipment which is now in the installation phase of the project. When completed the 1.2 MGD reverse osmosis based water treatment plant will feature (nearly) "Zero Liquid Discharge" of the RO concentrate from the systems. RO concentrate water that is to be discharged to a sewer system has been reduced to only approximately 25,000 GPD. That is a design recovery of greater than 98%.
This is a very important development for the RO and also for the Golf industries. In many parts of the country, and indeed worldwide, golf course managers struggle with the problems of availability, cost or quality of water for irrigation of their golf course. Reverse Osmosis has solved the problem of utilizing brackish ground water and many Golf Clubs have planned to purchase and install their own RO water treatment plants only to run directly into a very major obstacle. The problem is finding a suitable location to send the RO concentrate water and obtaining the necessary permits. RO concentrate water is considered 'industrial waste' by the DER and EPA." The lower the amount of RO concentrate, the smaller the problem is.
Reverse Osmosis systems are currently desalinating brackish or sea water at dozens of gold course facilities in the USA and world-wide. The product water from RO systems is very good "irrigation" quality. These facilities discharge their concentrate water, usually about 25% of the feed water, to an appropriate and permittable location. For a one million gallon per day RO system, this can be 250,000 gallons per day. A great many golf club facilities that need to treat their available water do not have an approved location to discharge it to.
The original design for the Texas Golf Club called for total liquid discharge with the use of evaporators as the final treatment phase. Evaporators are expensive both in capital and operating cost. But our client was fortunate to obtain permitting for approximately 5% of the concentrate thus eliminating the evaporation phase which saved about a million dollars". The zero liquid discharge design by Water Treatment Systems, Inc., using membrane systems are a low cost opportunity for golf clubs everywhere.

The Future of Reverse Osmosis Systems

The future is now! Indeed RO systems are being utilized right now all over the world.
As water supplies continue to degrade or in many countries, simply not available, RO systems will be in greater demand. Desalination of sea water in arid climates is absolutely essential. In many industrial countries, good quality water sources for potable and for irrigation use are becoming hard to find. What little there is becomes very expensive.

Reverse Osmosis is a process that treats water that would otherwise be unsuitable for use and turns into potable water quality. It makes it possible to utilize water sources that are highly saline or brackish, thus freeing up the available "clean" water sources and keeping prices within reason.

Please check back with me often. I will be writing all about RO and RO applications on this first blog about the subject.