REVERSE OSMOSIS REJECT WATER –
METHODS OF DISPOSAL
Sharat V. Rao
Preface:-
Water scarcity is one of the most signiicant
factors due to which extraction of water
from diferent sources has gained momen-
tum. The deteriorating quality, in terms of
usability, of some of these extracted wa-
ters has encouraged proliferation of Water
Treatment Plants. Reverse Osmosis (RO)
is one type of treatment which has been
adopted - especially when the source of
water is brackish and has a high content of
dissolved salts. Desalination of sea water
has also become a promising technology,
as available water gets depleted from the
earth’s surface due to climate warming.
Desalination and RO plants generate reject
concentrates which has to be disposed of in
a safe manner.
RO Reject:-
RO is a water puriication technology
which separates dissolved solids from wa-
26 / August 2016 / Indian Plumbing Today
ter by forcing the water through a semi
permeable membrane. Smaller salt mole-
cules along with the water molecules pass
through the membrane. This water is called
‘permeate’. Larger molecules are retained
by the membrane along with some water
that does not pass through the membrane
– this is called ‘concentrate’. This concen-
trated stream of water which does not pass
through the membrane is called RO Reject.
Typically, the reject percentage can be any-
where between 20% - 50% of the low pass-
ing through the RO system depending on
the quality of water and type of membrane
used. When the reject percentage is low,
you recover more water as permeate, leav-
ing behind more concentrated salt and con-
taminants as reject water and vice-versa.
The reject water is hyper saline and may
contain salt concentrates upto 20,000 –
50,000 ppm.
Methods to Dispose RO Reject
Water.
RO Reject Water is hyper saline and thus
cannot be directly disposed into sanitary
sewers, storm drains or any other water
bodies. Some of the common methods ad-
opted for disposal are as below:-
a) Evaporation Ponds,
b) Disposal to sanitary sewers, storm
drains after blending,
c) Irrigating salt tolerant species,
d) Mechanical Evaporation,
e) Carting away from site by vendors.
Evaporation Ponds:-
Evaporation Ponds rely on solar energy
Disposal to Sanitary Sewers, Storm
Drains:-
This method involves blending RO Reject
Concentrate with treated wastewater ef-
luent from a wastewater treatment plant,
thereby taking advantage of blending a
lower TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) stream
from the treatment plant with the high TDS
concentrate. Even cooling water eluent,
if available, can be used for blending. The
to evaporate water from the RO concen-
trate stream and leaving behind precipitat-
ed salts. These salts which are left behind
can be used as landills at designated and
authorised areas as per the governing rules
and bye laws and with the permission of the
AHJ. The advantage of this process is that
there is no operational cost involved but the
major disadvantage is that it requires a large
land area - depending on the strength of the
concentrate and volume of low.
In many places, these ponds will have to be
lined so that the leachate does not permeate
into the soil and pollute the ground water
or other water sources. Common materials
used as pond liners are PVC, HDPE and bu-
tyl rubber. Clay liners are also used – these
are cheaper but a small amount of seepage
would have to be accepted.
blended eluent can then be discharged into
sanitary sewers or storm drains. The TDS
value of this discharge eluent should be
less than 2,100 ppm. Blended eluent can
also be used for irrigation if the TDS level
is below 600 ppm.
Irrigating Salt Tolerant Species:-
The reject concentrate can be used for irri-
gating salt tolerant species of plants, shrubs,
Indian Plumbing Today / August 2016 / 27
 trees or any other form of vegetation. A co-
conut tree is one example of a salt tolerant
tree.

Mechanical Evaporation:-

As the name suggests, in this method, me-

chanical devices are used to create forced
evaporation. In this process, the water com-
ponent of the concentrate is converted into
condensable water vapour, leaving behind
wet salt. This wet salt can be used as land-
ill in designated and authorised areas as
per the governing rules and bye laws. The
most common combination of technologies
used for this purpose is a vertical tube fall-
ing ilm brine concentrator followed by a
forced crystalliser.

The major disadvantage of this method of

disposal is the size and complexity of the
equipment and also the fact that they are
cost and energy intensive.

There are other Evaporators available in the

market such as vacuum evaporators, ther-
mal evaporators, etc.

Carting Away from Site by

Vendors:-

In many places, the service of an authorised

and approved vendor can be used - espe-
cially in small plants and when there is a
limitation to adopt any of the above men-
tioned methods of disposal. These vendors
are authorised to cart away the reject water
from the site and dispose them at authorised
and designated areas identiied by the ap-
proving or statutory authorities. Necessary
permissions from concerned departments
will have to be obtained.

Sharat V Rao
Sharat V Rao is an MEP Consultant and
is Managing Director of M/s Engineering
Creations Public Health Consultancy
Pvt Ltd. He is Chairman, IPA Mumbai
Chapter, NEC Member and member of
the Technical Committee.

28 / August 2016 / Indian Plumbing Today