DESALINATION

ELSEVIER Desalination 165 (2004) 201-208

www.elsevier.com/tocate/desai

CSMCRI experience with reverse osmosis membranes and

desalination: case studies
S.V. Joshi*, P.K. Ghosh, V.J. Shah, C.V. Devmurari, J.J. Trivedi, Prakash Rao
Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, GijubhaiBadheka Marg, Bhavnagar 364 002 (GujaraO India
Fax: +91 (278) 256-6511; email: salt@csir.res.in

Received 18 January 2004; accepted 2 February 2004

Abstract
Described herein is a case study of long-term reverse osmosis plant operation based on TFC membrane technology
developedby CSMCRI, Bhavnagar, India. The plant supplies safe drinking water containing 175 ppm to the population
of the Kasari village. The plant provides 2000 L/h desalinated water containing 175 ppm salts, which is desalinated
from 1800 ppm saline water at 200 psi operating pressure. A rapid decline of product rate was observed in the initial
4 months of operation; however, the product rate and salt rejection have remained steady after the 4 months till the
reporting period.

Keywords:Reverse osmosis; Thin-film composite membrane; Kasari village; Case studies

I. Introduction
India is a country whose water situation is
very unpredictable. The little rain that falls on
different regions is difficult to capture and store.
Most of the villages are highly stressed due to the
insufficient quantity and poor quality of drinking
water they get from local sources. The reason
may be that the remote villages face the problems
of a lack of electricity, transport facilities and a
*Corresponding author.
water management system. The supply of safe
drinking water by means of reverse osmosis (RO)
is one of the reliable and convenient ways of
solving the water problem in no-sources and
problem villages o f India. Generally the popu-
lation in such villages is 1000 to 3000. CSMCRI,
Bhavnagar, has commissioned and successfully
operates small- to medium-sized RO plants in
villages based on its technology of converting
brackish water into safe drinking water and
supplying it to the local population [1-3].

Presented at the EuroMed 2004 conference on Desalination Strategies in South Mediterranean Countries: Cooperation
between Mediterranean Countries of Europe and the Southern Rim of the Mediterranean. Sponsored by the European
Desalination Society and Office National de l'Eau Potable, Marrakech, Morocco, 30 May-2 June, 2004.
0011-9164/04/$- See front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
doi; 10.1016/j.desal.2004.06.023
202 S. tl. doshi et al. / Desalination 165 (2004) 201-208
Membrane research is being conducted in
India by very few national laboratories and
universities. As compared globally, commercial
activities seem to be restricted to only desali-
nation or wastewater treatment and not to any
significant level. With the support of Government
of India and Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR), New Delhi, CSMCRI was able
to develop RO technology for brackish water
desalination.
The first desalination plant was built in 1972
based on cellulose acetate tubular technology to
supply drinking water to the staff of the Agri-
culture University, who otherwise were drinking
saline water. Later on cellulose acetate spiral
modules (2.5"and 4" diameter × 1 m) were devel-
oped in 1977, and several plants of different
capacities including the prototype unit installed in
a mobile van [4] were installed in villages
to provide safe drinking water.
Meanwhile, CSMCRI has developed thin-film
composite membrane (TFC) technology for
brackish water and very saline water desalination
[5]. The first 500 L/d prototype plant based on
TFC membrane was installed at CPCL, Chennai,
in 1996, followed by a 5000 L/d plant in 1997 to
treat municipal tertiary treated sewage water, the
product of which was used as process water in a
refinery. After successful demonstration of this
Table 1
Details of the 1 MLD RO plant installed at CPCL, Chermai
Design
Feed quantity, L/min 624 (1 MLD)
Product quantity, L/min 520 (0.75 MLD)
Feed conductance,/ts 3125
Feed quality, ppm =2000
Product conductivity,#s 312
Product quality, ppm =250
SR, % 87.5
Operating pressure, psi 250
Recovery,% 75
No. of 8" modules 48
plant for more than a year, a 40,000 L/d capacity
plant was installed at the same place. In Novem-
ber 2003 the 1 MLD RO plant was installed by
CSMCRI at CPCL, Chennai, which was spon-
sored by the Center for High Technology, New
Delhi. This plant treats 1 MLD tertiary treated
sewage water to produce process water for the
refinery. The initial performance results are given
in Table 1.
In the last 5 years a few more small-capacity
plants were installed in water-scarce villages to
provide drinking water to the people; they are
operated at low pressure in the range of 200 to
250 psi treating water from 2,000 to 10,000 ppm
salinity at a 95% salt rejection level. These plants
have been running exceptionally well in villages
and provide safe drinking water.
The paper describes the performance results of
one of the RO plants in operation for 16 months
in the village of Kasari in the Rajasthan state in
India. Based on our experience for operating RO
plants in the villages for providing safe drinking
water, and the reliability of this technology, in
addition to fulfillment of the requirements of the
people, state governments are coming forward to
promote the technology for the supply of water in
rural areas.
The development of TFC membranes was
divided into different phases: (1) development of
Actual Remarks
800 (1.15 MLD) +15% (excess)
600 (0.86 MLD) +15% (excess)
2310
=1475
230
=150 +2.5% (excess)
90
195
75
32 - 33% (less)
 S. V. Joshi et al. / Desalination 165 (2004) 201-208 203

a porous polysulfone membrane; (2) development
of a polyamide thin-film process to coat the
porous polysulfone membrane; (3) development
of suitable technology for large-scale manu-
facture of TFC membranes of 1 m x 50 m size;
(4) membrane post-treatments; (5) development
of different sized spiral modules and related hard-
ware; (6) testing of the complete unit for its
reliability and membrane performance; (7) plant
assembling, installation and operation. A TFC
membrane was prepared first on laboratory scale
where all the parameters were standardized.
Subsequently the machines for continuous
casting ofpolysulfone and continuous coating of
the thin film were developed to make 1 m x 50 m
porous polysulfone membrane and 1 m × 25 m
thin-film coating of polyamide by interracial
polymerization, respectively. Spiral elements
from 1", 2.5", 4" and 8" diameter were developed
using the proper selection of feed and product
spacers for a maximum 600 psi working pressure
for brackish water desalination.
Several prototypes and medium-sized plants
using different types of module diameters have
been operated for 6 months to 2 years in different
places to treat brackish water in the salinity range
from 2,000 to 10,000 ppm. The TFC membranes
used in the modules separate and remove dis-
solved salts to the extent of 95%, along with
organic materials, pyrogens, sub-micron colloidal
matters, viruses and bacteria from the water.
Table 2 shows the details of the RO desalination
plants installed by CSMCRI in last 5 years at
different locations that provide safe drinking
water to the rural masses.

Table 2
Details of ultrafiltration/reverseosmosis plants installed by CSMCRI, Bhavnagar, in the last 5 years

Sr. no. Location of plant State Capacity, L/D Year of installation Salinityof water, ppm
1 Madras Refineries Limited, Tamilnadu 40,000 1998 2,000
Chennai
2 Naigaun(super-cyclone Orissa 15,000 1999 5,000
affected village)
3 Mocha Gujarat 30,000 2000 8,000
4 Allahabad(Kumbh Mela) UP 30,000 10.1.2001-29.1.2001500 (ultrafiltration)
5 Randhanpur Gujarat 30,000 2001 1,000 (ultrafiltration)
(earthquake affected area)
6 Lodai, Kutch Gujarat 15,000 2001 6,000
(earthquake affected area)
7 Kalyanpur Gujarat 30,000 2002 8,000
8 Bhujodi,Kutch Gujarat 2,000 2001 5,000-6,000
Mandvi, Kutch Gujarat 2,000 2002
Nalia, Kutch Gujarat 2,000 2002
9 Kasari Rajasthan 50,000 2002 5,000
10 Bhuj-GIDE Gujarat 2,000 2003 3,000
11 Barmer Rajasthan 50,000 2003 3,000
12 CPCL,Chennai Tamilnadu 10,000,000 2003 2,000
13 Mandapam Tamilnadu 2,000 2003 35,000
(under construction)
204 s. v. Joshi et al. / Desalination 165 (2004) 201-208
2. Plant design
RO is a highly sophisticated technology,
which requires advanced instrumentation and
hardware accessories that require well-qualified
staff for operation of the plant. However, in rural
villages facilities are limited for power supply,
manpower, infrastructure, etc., so the technology
should be operable in a limited infrastructure with
unskilled operators. With this in mind, our RO
plant was designed with just the essential
equipment to run the plant.
2.1. Pre-treatment system
A simple pre-treatment system consisting of a
sand filter and two cartridge filters of 10 micron
and 5 micron, respectively, was designed for the
medium-sized RO plant. A pressure-type sand
filter was used for filtration of raw saline water,
which is pumped from the well and continuously
filters particulates and colloids from the water.
However, a backwash of the sand filter after shut-
down of the plant every day is required for effi-
cient filtration. The micron filters are required to
filter out the impurities of nearly 5 microns in
size. Cleaning of the cartridge filter should be
done frequently and replaced after about 2
months of operation; but due to the low cost of
these filters, more frequent replacement is
possible.
Dechlorination of water is required whenever
the feed is previously chlorinated for our system,
as it is based on a polyamide TFC membrane. An
equivalent amount of sodium bisulfite was added
to reduce the chlorine by the dosing pump
installed before the sand filter. As the people
fetch the purified water every day, no excess
water remains in the reservoir, which eliminates
the use of chlorination of product water.
2.2. Reverse osmosis plant assembly
The RO plant is comprised of a high-pressure
pump; membrane elements; pressure vessels;
pressure regulating valves; and an electrical con-
trolling panel consisting of an ammeter, volt-
meter, frequency meter, timer, flow meter, etc.
The plant was designed to achieve 50% recovery
of desalinated water at an operating pressure of
250 psi. The membrane elements are 4" and 8" in
diameter and 1 m in length, accommodating
16 m 2 and 40 m 2 membrane area ofpolysulfone-
polyamide TFC membrane prepared at CSMCRI,
Bhavnager, with indigenous know-how. The RO
pressure vessels provided are filament wound
fiberglass-reinforced plastic. The brackish water
system is equipped with a pressure vessel de-
signed to house membrane elements at pressures
up to 600 psi.
2.3. Power generation
The RO plant has a three-phase, 440 V, 50 Hz,
3 HP electric motor to drive a high-pressure
pump for a large-capacity plant. In villages where
electric power supply is not available, a diesel
generator set was provided with the plant. Also
where a three-phase electric supply is not avail-
able, a small prototype plant was designed to
operate on single phase, 220 V power supply.
2.4. Monitoring o f performance
A conductivity meter and a pH meter were
supplied to check the quality of the feed and
permeate. A water analyzer analyzes the feed and
permeated waters for hardness and other ions.
Plant performance is monitored continuously and
data recorded daily for product rate, salt rejection,
product recovery and temperature of feed water.
2. 5. Kasari desalination plant
The RO plant system with a 30,000 L/d capa-
city was designed and manufactured at the Insti-
tute. A schematic flow diagram of the plant
design is shown in Fig. 1. It was installed in the
Kasari village, 30 km away from the Jhunjhunu
 S. V. Joshi et al. / Desalination 165 (2004) 201-208 205

000
0
oo
Booster High Pmssm* P~g*~s~

geg~ator P~uct Wst+r

Control Panel
Bypassh e to
Raw Water t~k

36 |it/mi~

Pump Main
Va1~
rl~pF-~ur~
S ~ Filter S e c ~ Tin~ ~mp
~w
BackWwsl,
Ta.qk Drain

~ 1 8 titCmJn

EfRaenl Product Membrane Modules

I1 Ht/mln wat~v
2;5 lf~Jmi n

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of Kasari reverse osmosis desalination plant.

district in the State of Rajasthan. The village is
situated in a remote area where no other source of
sweet water was available, except for a saline
well water from which people were consuming
water for drinking, cooking and other domestic
uses. The village was selected by the Rajasthan
State Government for installing a plant to provide
desalinated water. With financial support from
the Department of Science and Technology, New
Delhi, the project began with an understanding to
install the plant in the village and to train a person
from the same village to operate and maintain the
plant for a period o f 3 years.
Fig. 1 shows the three high-pressure vessels,
each containing two 4" membrane elements. The
raw saline water from a local source is drawn
with a filter pump and forced through booster
pump to a sand filter at a pressure of 15 psi. An
optional arrangement was made to dechlorinat~
feed water before sand filtration by continuousl3
dosing 1.5 p p m of sodium bisulfite. Thereafter
the water enters into 10 micron and 5 microt
filters in succession. Feed water filtered in such
system has a turbidity o f less than 1 NTU as th<
micron-sized particulate matter filtered away i,,
pumped into the first and second vessel, eacl
containing two 4" diameter modules at a pressur,
of 200 psi. The concentrate water coming out o
first and second vessels becomes the feed for th,
third vessel. Finally, the concentrate from th,
third vessel is removed and collected in a tank
The concentrate water, which is about 4000 ppn
salinity, can be used for washing their cloths an,
bathing cattle. The permeated water is collecte,
separately from all the three vessels and taken t~
a storage tank through a PVC pipeline for furthe
206 S.V. Joshi et al. / Desalination 165 (2004) 201-208

80

70

60

~50
8 4O
30
20
10
0 , , , , , , , , ", ,,,,,,,,~,, , , , , ,

1800
160O
z 1400
5 12oo
~ I000
8OO

a. 400
Fig. 2. Kasari reverse osmosis desalinationplant. 200
0
distribution. People carry away the desalinated
water for drinking and for domestic purposes
every day; therefore, this water does not require 91.
90-
chlorination.
.. 89.
The plant was designed to achieve minimum o B6-
@
50% recovery of desalinated water after 1 year of B7.
88.
operation at a working pressure of 250 psi at a cn 85.
pump flow rate of 36 L/min. Fig. 2 shows the RO z 84.

plant in operation at the village of Kasari. 83.

I ill ~ d l l l -r-" ,

3. Plant performance results

The RO plant was installed in August 2002.
Operational data for 16 months are presented in
Fig. 3, which indicates the plant product rate, salt
rejection and recovery for the operational period.
In the beginning recovery was 72% with 87% salt
rejection in the first month, which was increased
gradually to 90.5%. Salt rejection has remained
constant during the past year. A product rate of
1575 L/d at the beginning declined after a month.
The second decline in the product rate is observed
after 3 months of operation, and a third decline in
flux was observed after 2 months in January,
2003. However, the flux rate became steady after
1 year of operation.
Fig. 3. Product recovery, product rate and salt rejection
over a period of 16 months of the Kasari plant operation.
The product water recovery is correlated with
the product rate, which also declined accordingly
and remained steady from January 2003 onwards.
At present the plant is under operation at 55%
product recovery at 200 psi operating pressure
and at average 90.5% salt rejection. The product
water recovery was observed to be optimum as no
further flux decline was observed, which indi-
cates that chemical deposition has not taken place
on the membrane surface. Therefore, no chemical
 S. V. Joshi et al. / Desalination 165 (2004) 201-208 207

Table 3
Kasari RO plant, water analysis (Oct. 2002) (50,000 L/d capacity)

Parameter Permeate, mg/1 Feed, m g / 1 Concentrate, mg/l Rejection, %

Conductivity 342 3400 7300 -90

Total dissolved solids 205 2040 4380 -90
(based on conductivity)
Chloride 50.5 640 1350 92.1
Sulfate 5.0 90 262 94.5
Potassium 0.637 5.23 9.55 87.8
Magnesium 1.40 25 64.6 94.5
Calcium 7.5 105 215 92.9
Total hardness 9.0 144 290 93.8
NO3, nitrate 24.2 53.2 79.2 54.5
Nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) 5.45 12.1 18.0 55.0
Fluoride 0.134 1.65 3.5 91.9

Table 4
Kasari RO plant, feed water and permeate water analysis (August, 2003)

Parameter, mg/L Feed (Sample No. 6) Permeate (Sample No. 4) Rejection, %

Conductivity, #S 2980 295 90.0

Salinity, ppm 1907 148 92.2
Chloride 504 40 92.0
Sulphate 110 7.64 93.0
Potassium 1.0 0.1 90.0
Fluoride 1.74 0.169 90.3
Magnesium (as CaCO3) 201 7 96.5
Total hardness (as CaCO3) 261 9 96.5
Calcium (as CaCO3) 60 2 96.6
Nitrate 151 23.4 84.5
Nitrate-nitrogen 34.3 5.32 84.5

cleaning treatment has been required so far for
the membrane. Table 3 shows the details of feed
and permeated water analysis and the rejection by
the membrane. The samples were collected in
October, 2002, which shows a chloride rejection
of>90%, Ca 92%, and Mg 94%. The presence of
fluoride and nitrate was observed in the feed
water. The rejection o f fluoride and nitrate by the
membrane was low initially. As indicated in
Table 4, rejection o f fluoride, nitrate and other
ions was increased in the analysis carded out in
August, 2003.
208 S. K Joshi et al. / Desalination 165 (2004) 201-208
4. Conclusions
CSMCRI has developed RO technology and
successfully used it in rural areas to supply safe,
potable water. The plant design was greatly
simplified to accommodate the minimum village
requirements. While applying this technology for
providing drinking water to a rural population,
there are associated societal benefits such as the
improvement o f health by consuming purified
water, easy availability, and creating awareness
about technology in rural sectors and entrusting
them with self-reliance and demonstration how
technology can help in improving the quality o f
their life.
With the help o f state governments, a number
o f such plants will be installed in different
regions in a future programme.
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Ind. Chem. J., 12 (1977) 1-4.
[3] V.J. Shah, R.M. Kava and A.V. Rao, J. Ind. Water
Works Assoc., 17 (1985) 181-186.
[4] V.J. Shah, R.M. Kava, A.V. Rao and M.M. Taqui
Khan, A mobilereverse osmosisdemonstrationplant,
Desalination, 69 (1988) 161-169.
[5] A. Prakash Rao, S.V. Joshi, J.J. Trivedi, C.V.
Devmurari and V.J. Shah, Structure-performance
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