Techno-economic comparison of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration in desalination of a Moroccan brackish groundwater

Abstract

The cost of desalinated water is likely one of the most relevant indicators to characterize and compare the desalination methods with other technical options to supply water for urban, industrial and agricultural purposes. Obviously, costs of producing desalinated water vary from facility to facility due to factors such as location, facility design, plant size and available technology. This work reports on the technical and economical comparison of reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) in the desalination of the underground brackish water of Moroccan Region. The capital and operating costs for both processes are determined on the basis of a real industrial and economical data. The study was carried out for a production capacity of 3,000 m3/d corresponding to water consumption for 30,000 capita following the Moroccan considerations (consumption for domestic use of 100 l/per capita per day). Technically and economically, the work shows that in this case, the NF process appears more convenient than the RO.