Culligan launched the SW Evo Sea Water Reverse Osmosis Desalinator—a skid-mounted sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) treatment plant suitable for municipal, commercial and industrial applications—and a containerized Membrane Bio Reactor – MBR system for treating waste water from different applications to make it suitable for reuse.
The plants are entirely designed and built in Culligan’s Italian headquarters in Bologna, Italy. Each of Culligan’s new plants makes use of advanced water treatment technologies that either enable production of a new source of fresh water in the case of the SW Evo, or enable treatment of water for reuse in the case of the new MBR system.
“In the global context of water scarcity, Culligan is committing its resources to find professional, flexible, and cost effective solutions for producing drinking and process water, as well as reusing water that otherwise would be lost to drain,” said Chris Freeman, marketing & products director, Culligan Intl. “The shortage of water resources is not only one of the most dangerous challenges the world is facing, but it is also probably far worse than we could have expected. More than 4 billion people live in water-scarce conditions for at least one month a year, and 500 million people live in places where the annual consumption of water is twice the amount that the rain can replenish. This situation is rapidly leading to irreversible degradation of aquifers, making entire communities vulnerable.”
The SW Evo desalinator produces 5 to 40 cu meters/hour (m3/hr) of fresh water from feed waters with up to 42,000 ppm of salinity. It uses energy recovery technologies that minimize operational costs (energy consumption is 2kWh/m3 on average), while reverse osmosis technology removes over 99% of salt and other contaminants leaving only high quality water. The SW Evo system is skid mounted for simple, no-assembly installation and easy start-up, while its modular design enables high-quality construction with delivery times of six to eight weeks. It is fully configurable thanks to a complete range of upgrade options.
The SW Evo’s flexibility means it can be used for a wide range of commercial and industrial applications, as well as producing potable water where the supply of drinking water can be a problem.
Culligan’s Membrane Bio Reactor system combines activated sludge treatment with solids-liquid separation by means of micro-porous membranes, eliminating the need for secondary clarification tanks. By eliminating the need for a clarifier and thanks to the higher sludge concentrations possible with MBR, bioreactor tank volumes can be reduced by as much as 50%. The result is a system with a smaller footprint.
The Culligan MBR system uses flat sheet membranes with a pore size of just 0.15 μm, resulting in a clear, highly purified effluent that is suitable for reuse or further treatment by other Culligan technologies, such as reverse osmosis. The MBR process is stable across a range of conditions and can manage high levels of variability.
Culligan’s containerized MBR systems are available in two standard models of 25 m3/day and 50 m3/day flow rates and are fully installed within standalone 20- or 40-ft containers. The MBR can be used for a variety of applications, such as commercial sites, including shopping malls, hotels/resorts and sports centers; small municipal communities; food & beverage, chemical and pharmaceutical industries; treating water for reuse as irrigation in agriculture for irrigation; and relief aid and military camps.
Source: Culligan
