Techno – Economic Comparison among Methods of Organic Matter Removal in Water Treatment

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Sanitary& Environmental Engineering Section, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo.

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the best method to use for upgrading existing water treatment plants in Egypt to be able to remove natural organic matter (NOM) based on a techno-economic comparison.  Three methods are selected namely: granular activated carbon (GAC), ultrafiltraton (UF) and ion exchange (IEX). The technical comparison considered the performance, need for skilled workers, ability to deal with shock loads, waste production, O&M needed time and life time of the media. The financial comparison considered capital cost, running cost and media/membrane regeneration or replacement.  The analysis results indicated that the UF is the most effective method from the technical point of view followed by IEX then GAC. However from the financial point of view, GAC is the cheapest method (0.16 LE/m³), followed  by IEX (0.33 LE/m³) then UF (0.53 LE/m³).

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