Treatment of Dissolved Metals for Direct Potable Reuse

In the process of direct potable reuse (DPR), the bulk of the removal of dissolved metals removal is accomplished by reverse osmosis. This treatment is especially important in wastewater containing contaminants from industrial processes. The goal of this research was to evaluate the performance of DPR with respect to the removal of salinity and dissolved metals to meet drinking standards. Samples were collected from the El Paso Water Utilities Advanced Water Purification pilot system throughout various points in the treatment process. The samples were analyzed for their concentration of ions with Ion Chromatography (IC) and dissolved metals using an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES). Quality control was performed using data from samples analyzed by an EPA certified lab. Trends were generated in order to establish confidence in the data gathered by UTEP and evaluate the performance of the process. From the QC process, select metals were identified for removal analysis. Sulfate and chloride data was also analyzed. Each analyte was evaluated on the consistency of removal, as well as adherence to EPA drinking water standards. For metals without a primary drinking water standard, the secondary standard was used as the quality criterion