Reverse osmosis stations
Membrane separation that rejects dissolved solids under applied pressure. Used here for brackish groundwater treatment, process-water polishing, and reject concentration ahead of ZLD/MLD trains.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Typical capacity range | Containerised skids from 50 to 5,000 m³/day; larger duties built as parallel skids |
| Pre-treatment approach | Multimedia or self-cleaning screen filtration ahead of the membranes, antiscalant dosed to feed hardness and silica, cartridge filtration immediately upstream of the high-pressure pump |
| Achievable recovery | 70-85% on typical Nile Delta/Valley brackish groundwater; lower where iron, manganese or silica limit recovery without extra pre-treatment |
| Egyptian feed-water challenge | Variable iron and manganese loading in groundwater fouls membranes faster than TDS alone would predict |
| Design response | Oxidation/greensand filtration or aeration ahead of the RO train where iron/manganese exceed membrane tolerance, sized to that well's chemistry rather than a generic pre-treatment package |
Recovery is the number worth pressure-testing before committing to a design: a quoted recovery rate that ignores a site's specific iron, manganese or silica loading is a number that won't survive first contact with the actual well.