Articles and Case Studies from Avista Technologies, Inc.

A New Fast Acting Low PH Cleaner Paves the Way for a New Cleaning Philosophy for Integrated Membrane Systems

Abstract For many years ultrafiltration/microfiltration (UF/MF) has been replacing multi-media filtration as a seawater reverse osmosis (RO) or nanofiltration (NF) pre-treatment system. Initially the systems were treated as individual unit ...

Nov. 5, 2019 Fiona C. Finlayson,;Fiona C. Finlayson;Daniel Freeman;Sara Pietsch

Maximizing membrane life: lessons learned from a three year study on performance recovery

Abstract Reverse Osmosis (RO) membranes are susceptible to several different types of foulants and scales. Common foulants observed in RO systems are organics, metals, clays and colloidal material. Common scales that are observed are carbonate, ...

Mar. 22, 2017 Sara Pietsch;Megan Lee;Jared Furlong

Advancements in Scaling Calculations and an in depth look at Antiscalant dosing for stressed waters and high recovery systems

Abstract Over the past few decades the Reverse Osmosis (RO) industry has observed an increase in applications in challenging waters. Water sources that were never considered suitable for RO are now commonplace, including municipal waste streams, ...

Mar. 22, 2017 Matt James;Mike Jefferies;Sara Pietsch

The Millennials - our next generation of membrane experts

Raul Gonzalez is a Technical Support Specialist at Avista Technologies in San Marcos, CA. After completing his Bachelor’s Degree from Cal Poly Pomona in Civil Engineering, Raul participated in the Orange County Water District internship ...

Dec. 15, 2016 Raul Gonzalez

One step, low pH iron and organics removal - Case Study

Review For over seven years, the semiconductor facility performed routine on-site cleans of their reverse osmosis (RO) membranes using RoClean P111 with good results. However, over a six month period in 2015, membrane cleaning frequency increased to ...

Oct. 1, 2016

Antiscalant reduces cleaning frequency from every 2 weeks to over 2 years - Case Study

Feedwater: Well Water Application: Municipal Review Figure 1. Image of reverse osmosis system at the municipal water plant Avista Technologies was contacted by a municipal water supplier in Ohio USA in June of 2012 to seek advice on their ...

May 1, 2016

Meet Roman A. Membrane

I was born in 1964 in San Diego, CA to a researcher at UCLA who worked on a project called reverse osmosis and an engineer who worked with nuclear reactors. In the early 1970’s I found my true calling in a process called separation. Some ...

Feb. 26, 2016

Silica discovered to be the limiting system recovery factor - Case Study

Introduction A consulting engineering firm selected to design and oversee the construction of a 5MGD RO system for a Southern California military facility handed over the system to an operations management firm. Upon handover, the original OEM of ...

Jun. 1, 2015

Finding a Stable Operating Cleaning Regime - BWRO Plant - Cleaning Case Study

Introduction A brackish water reverse osmosis plant (BWRO) in East Spain suffered a significant loss of performance, with permeate flow rate dropping 40% with a consequent drop in recovery from 65% to 45%. After unsuccessful cleaning attempts, ...

Jun. 1, 2015

In-depth analysis of changes restores system optimization - Case Study

Introduction A reverse osmosis plant (BWRO) had been operating effectively applying Avista antiscalant and cleaners for about a year. Increased product water demand led to changes in the feed water quality and an increase in plant recovery resulting ...

Jun. 1, 2015

Recovering flows and pressures to start-up parameters - Case tudy

Introduction A customer in Camarillo, California approached Avista Technologies to help restore baseline flows on a recently commissioned ultrafiltration (UF) system using HYDRAcap 60 membranes. The plant is located in a hot house, with its water ...

Jun. 1, 2015

Data normalization identifies performance issues - Case Study

Introduction The Municipal RO Plant had been in operation for almost 18 years, producing ~290 gpm of permeate water for a city in Iowa, USA. It was one of the first RO plants in the state and the upper mid-west. In May 2008, city operators ...

Jun. 1, 2015

High Silica levels not considered in plant design - Case Study

Introduction A plant on Tenerife in the Canary Islands was suffering from fouling. A raw water analysis was taken and found to have high levels of silica present that had not been considered when designing the plant. It was concluded that the cause ...

Jun. 1, 2015

Avista Technologies, Inc. Articles