Journal article
Survival of the fittest: Prokaryotic communities within a SWRO desalination plant
Tamar Jamieson, Sergio Balzano, Charlotte Le Lan, Tim Kildea, Amanda V Ellis, Melissa H Brown, Sophie C Leterme
DESALINATION | ELSEVIER | Published : 2021
Abstract
Water scarcity is known to affect 40% of the global population. By 2030, it is estimated that 700 million people will potentially become displaced due to drought. Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination is recognised as one of the most cost effective and efficient methods to produce freshwater. However, biofouling of the SWRO membranes is detrimental to the efficacy of the desalination plants. In this study, the bacterial community composition within the pre-treatment system at Penneshaw SWRO desalination plant (Kangaroo Island, Australia) and the biological fouling parameters on the SWRO membranes were characterised. Membrane autopsies were undertaken on stages 1 and 2 positioned membr..
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Awarded by National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia
Funding Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia (Project 08313) , which is funded by the Australian Government through the National Urban Water and Desalination Plan. T. Jamieson was supported by a Flinders University Research Scholarship. The authors are also grateful to T. Kirby, N. Nedelkov and G. Ralston for their assistance with sampling from thePenneshaw desalination plant.