RO/NFUFMBRChemicals

C A S E S T U DY
RO | UF | MBR |Irrigation
Almería, Spain

Seawater Desalination Using Toray's RO Membranes to Support Almería's
Thriving Agricultural Economy
BACKGROUND
Campo de Dalías is a coastal region on the Mediterranean Sea inAlmería and is notable for applying accelerated farming techniques
known as 'intensive agriculture.' Since introducing this method,
Campo de Dalías has become heavily concentrated with greenhouses
that would export around 75% of its crops to supply nearly half ofthe demand in Europe [1]. The arid climate, long hours of sunlight,
and mulching sandy soil provide ideal conditions to produce crops,generating an estimated USD 1.5 billion per year [2]. Tourism in andaround Almería also is a significant contributor to the economy of thisregion.
CHALLENGE
As the economy boomed, the need for freshwater required byirrigation, tourism, and the local community also grew. As a result,
Campo de Dalías faced overexploitation of groundwater aquifers,
such as the Campo de Dalías coastal aquifer. Furthermore, the regionreceived less than 300 mm of rainfall per year, which could notadequately replenish the aquifers quicker than its withdrawal. Thesefactors threatened local water supplies due to contamination by
seawater intrusion and to the socio-economic livelihood of Almería.

Figure 1: Campo de Dalías Desalination Facility
Table 1 — Quick Facts

SOLUTION
To minimize groundwater withdrawal and secure alternate
freshwater sources, Spain's Ministry of Agriculture, Food andEnvironment implemented a national desalination plan called
Programa A.G.U.A. Promoted at the state level through Aguasde las Cuencas Mediterráneas (A.C.U.A.M.E.D.), the program led
to tenders for a new desalination plant in Campo de Dalías. The
contract was awarded to a consortium comprised of Veolia Water
Technologies as the O.E.M. and Spanish engineering firms Sando
Construcciones, Inypsa, and Montajes Elétricos Crescencio Pérez
to design, construct, operate, and maintain the plant for a periodof fifteen (15) years.
The bidding process of the reverse osmosis membranes involved
rigorous reviews of technical designs and projections. Toray
successfully met the requirements and was selected as the solemembrane supplier for a two-pass system.

Feed source

Open intake seawater from theMediterranean Sea

Pretreatment

2-stage sand filter followed by
5-micron cartridge filter

System capacity

98,664 m3/d

RO membranes*First-pass

Second-pass

Model

TM820E-400

TM720C-430

Membrane type

Seawater

Brackish

Skid design

233 (7M)

54:18 (7M)

System recovery

47.2%

84–90%

Feed pressure [MPa (psi)]

5.52 (800)1.03 (150)

NaCl rejection

99.75%

99.2%

Boron rejection

91% at pH 8

95% at pH 10

Flow rate [m /d (gpd)]

28.3 (7,500)

33.3 (8,800)

Active area [m2 (ft2)]

37 (400)

40 (430)

End useIrrigation; Municipal potable

OEM

Veolia Water Technologies (Spain)

3Construction of the plant began in early 2013 and was completed
in November 2014 to produce close to 100,000 cubic meters offresh water per day. This volume would sustain living standards
for an estimated 300,000 people living in Vicar, El Ejido, andRoquetas de Mar surrounding Campo de Dalías and supply
irrigation water for over 8,000 hectares of land.

Commissioned

2016*RO membrane performance is based on manufacturer's test conditions.
Actual performance depends on site's feed water conditions.

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C A S E S T U DY
RO | UF | MBR |Seawater Desalination Using Toray's RO Membranes to Support Almería's
Thriving Agricultural Economy

RO SYSTEM

Table 2 — RO feed water quality

Seawater is collected through an open intake and carried to the desalination
facility using a subsea pipeline stretching 1.6 kilometers. The RO feed is pretreated
via a dual filtration stage made up of a battery of 40 dual media filters followedby 5-micron cartridge filters with 99.6% removal efficiency of particulates. Ascorrosion is a common problem with treating seawater, the media filters weremade exclusively of glass fiber reinforced polyester (GRP) to address this.
The RO desalination process is a two-pass configuration, both consisting of sixskids. The first-pass is equipped with Toray RO model TM820E-400 high-flowseawater membranes. Due to the high level of osmotic pressure, an isobaric
energy recovery system by DWEER with 95% efficiency is installed, minimizing
the plant's energy consumption by up to 45%. The second-pass is installed with
Toray RO model TM720C-430 low-pressure brackish water membrane elements
to reduce the boron content to less than 0.5 mg/L and comply with irrigation
requirements. Furthermore, the concentrate from the second-pass is recirculated
to the first-pass.
As part of the final step, the RO permeate is post-treated via re-mineralization followedby disinfection.
SUMMARY
The plant operates 310 days a year by a team working 24 hours a day. Also, theplant has the capacity for future expansion to a total production of 129,600 cubic
meters per day.
To date, the RO membranes are operating efficiently without requiring
replacement. This project further exhibits the technical capability of Toray to supply
and support large-scale seawater desalination projects.
By providing an alternate water source for human and agricultural consumption,
the plant has helped the aquifers naturally regenerate while supplying the region's
water demands.

Item

Influent

Temperature

14–23 °CpH

8.2

Calcium (Ca)436.7 mg/L

Magnesium (Mg)

1,358.7 mg/L

Sodium (Na)12,009.4 mg/L

Potassium (K)409.5 mg/L

Strontium (Sr)

4.9 mg/L

Carbonate (CO3)

7.2 mg/L

Bicarbonate (HCO3)

165.5 mg/L

Sulfate (SO4)2,913.6 mg/L

Chloride (Cl)21,373.7 mg/L

Fluoride (F)

1.5 mg/L

Nitrate (NO3)

1.0 mg/L

Silica (SiO2)

0.3 mg/L

Boron (B)

5.3 mg/L

TDS

38,697.2 mg/L

LSI

1.5

Table 3 — RO permeate target guideline
Item

Permeate

Production

16,442 m3/d per skid

TDS

<400 mg/L

Boron<0.5 mg/L

REFERENCES[1] Garcia-Caparros, Pedro; Contreras, Juana
I s a b e l ; B a e z a , R a f a e l ; S e g u r a , M a r i a Lu z ;Lao, M ar ia Teresa. "I ntegral M anagementof Irrigation Water in Intensive Horticultural
Systems of Almería." Sustainability, Basel,Switzerland. January 1, 2017.

Figure 2: RO skids at Campo de Dalías Desalination Facility[2] Pulido-Bosch, Antonio; Pulido-Leboeuf,Pablo; Molina-Sanchez, Luis; Vallejos, Angela;
M ar tin-R osales, Wenceslao. "I ntensive
Agriculture and Quarries in the Campo de Dalias(Almería, Spain)." Mine, Water & Environment.
Sevilla, Spain. 1999.

TORAY INDUSTRIES, INC.
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All information presented herein is believed reliable and in accordance with accepted engineering practices. Toray makes nowarranties as to the completeness of this information. Users are responsible for evaluating individual product suitability forspecific applications. Toray assumes no liability whatsoever for any special, indirect or consequential damages arising from thesale, resale or misuse of its products. © 2021 Toray Industries, Inc. Subject to change without notice.
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