Hi Patrick, Handling acid ...

Published February 19, 2018 05:10 by Ian Pearson

Hi Patrick,

Handling acid is always a nasty business. I would propose rather using soda ash to increase alkalinity after RO as this would be simpler to handle and may work out at a similar cost to adding acid + limestone. However if you wish to add acid pre-membranes, you would need to determine the alkalinity as well as the pH and conductivity. You can download a software programme called "STASOFT" for free from the South African Water Research Commission website which will calculate acid dosing or soda ash dosing for you based on the water quality parameters. Just note that STASOFT may not be 100% accurate for the seawater feed conditions with high TDS, but should at least put you in the right ballpark.