Innovation in Process Engineering for Hydrology

Abstract

Currently, water demands throughout the world exceed the ability of Earth’s natural hydrologic cycles to replenish adequate fresh supplies of this resource. Water must, therefore, be recycled and reused many times over the course of each period between its extraction from, and return to, those cycles. Some governments have already issued large-scale programs to recover and reuse treated municipal waste waters, rehabilitate saline and contaminated wells, desalinate brackish- and sea-water sources. In the last years, membrane operations have been assigned a key role in water reclamation schemes that are aimed at higher water quality reuse applications. In the present work, membrane operations in the field of water treatment are discussed.