What issues need to be considered when purchasing industrial reverse osmosis water treatment equipment?

Define Water Quality Requirements and Treatment Objectives

The primary task in selecting industrial reverse osmosis water treatment equipment is to accurately determine water quality requirements and treatment goals. This includes:

• Raw Water Quality Analysis: Conduct a comprehensive test of the feed water source to understand its chemical composition, ion concentration, turbidity, microbial content, and other parameters. This ensures the equipment design can effectively remove specific contaminants.

• Effluent Water Quality Standards: Clarify the specific water quality requirements of each production process, such as conductivity, hardness, TOC (Total Organic Carbon), and microbial indicators, to ensure the RO equipment’s output meets or exceeds these standards.

• Treatment Capacity Requirements: Calculate the required daily or hourly water treatment volume based on production scale and water usage patterns to ensure the equipment’s water production capacity matches actual needs.

Evaluate Equipment Performance and Technical Parameters

• Reverse Osmosis Membrane Elements: As the core component of RO equipment, the performance of membrane elements directly impacts water purification effectiveness. Key factors to consider include salt rejection rate, flux, chemical stability, and fouling resistance. Select the appropriate membrane material (e.g., polyamide composite membrane, cellulose acetate membrane) and model based on water quality characteristics.

• Recovery Rate and Energy Consumption: Water and energy savings are critical considerations in industrial production. Choosing equipment with a high recovery rate can reduce concentrated water discharge and lower operational costs. Additionally, pay attention to energy consumption metrics, such as energy consumption per ton of water (kWh/m³), and select equipment with high energy efficiency.

• Pretreatment and Post-Treatment Systems: Based on raw water quality, assess whether pretreatment (e.g., multi-media filtration, activated carbon adsorption, softening, ultrafiltration) and post-treatment (e.g., UV sterilization, EDI electro-deionization) systems are necessary to ensure the stable operation of the RO membranes and compliance with effluent water quality standards.

Evaluate the Equipment Manufacturer and After-Sales Service

3. • Manufacturer Qualifications and Experience: Choose equipment manufacturers with relevant industry certifications, extensive project experience, and a good market reputation to ensure professionalism and reliability in equipment design, manufacturing, installation, and commissioning.

   • Customized Services: Industrial water needs are often unique. A superior equipment supplier should be capable of providing personalized solutions, such as process optimization for complex water quality conditions and non-standard designs tailored to specific spatial layouts.

   • After-Sales Service System: Assess the supplier’s service network, response time, repair capabilities, and spare parts availability to ensure timely and effective technical support and maintenance in case of equipment malfunctions during operation.

4. Cost-Effectiveness and Return on Investment Analysis

   • Equipment Purchase Cost: Compare quotations for different brands and models of equipment, considering factors such as performance, quality, and service life to conduct a cost-benefit analysis.

   • Operational Costs: Calculate expenses related to energy consumption, chemical usage, maintenance, and consumable replacements during equipment operation to evaluate long-term operational costs.

   • Return on Investment Period: Combine equipment purchase costs and operational expenses with potential benefits from improved water quality, such as enhanced production efficiency, extended equipment lifespan, and reduced environmental penalties, to determine the return on investment period and ensure the project’s economic viability.