Abstract
Jordan is characterised by an arid climate and its population is increasing at an annual rate of about 3.6%. The annual consumption of fresh water per capita is less than 200 m 3 compared to the international average of 7500 m 3. Jordan's water resources comprise surface water (41%), ground water (54%) and treated wastewater (5%). With such a high population growth rate and fast socio-economic development, water demand and wastewater production is steeply increasing and the gap between water supply and demand is getting wider. On the other hand, the constraints for water resources development are also increasing due to high investment costs and water quality degradation caused by over exploitation of aquifers. Jordan is likely to face a potable water crisis by 2010, by depleting the fresh water sources. Desalination of water from the Red Sea by reverse osmosis (R0) and/or desalination of brackish water from some basins by nanofiltration (NF) or RO might be technically and economically viable to cope with water scarcity and overcome water deficit in Jordan. In this work, treatment of brackish water by RO and NF into potable water is investigated. Brackish water samples were collected from Zarqa basin, Jordan, and characterised in terms of pH, conductivity, total solids (TS), total suspended solids (TSS) and total organic carbon (TOC). The brackish water samples were pre-treated through microfiltration (MF) cartridges in order to get rid of the suspended matter. A pilot plant equipped with composite RO and NF membranes was operated at 20 bar, ambient temperature, natural pH and up to water recovery rates of 95%. The results show that both processes are efficient, as they highly reduce the organic and inorganic contents present in the raw waters. The technical and economical feasibilities of NF and RO processes for the production of potable water from brackish water were compared. This study contributes for the development of efficient technologies for the production of affordable potable water in Mediterranean countries where the threat of water shortages is a serious problem, especially in summer.
Published Version
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