How do We Monitor the Water Quality of Industrial RO Plants?

Water is a critical resource for any industry as it is used in processes like cooling, heating, cleaning and manufacturing. However, the quality of water sourced for industrial use can vary greatly based on the supply source. Ground or surface water often contains impurities like suspended solids, dissolved salts, organic matter, microorganisms, etc. Using untreated water can lead to issues like:

1- Scaling and corrosion in pipelines, boilers and equipment

2- Contamination of manufactured products

3- Health risks from biological contaminants 

4- Environmental pollution from untreated effluent discharge

To mitigate these risks, industries install water treatment systems like reverse osmosis (RO) to purify the incoming raw water to desired quality standards. However, monitoring the treated water quality is equally crucial to ensure the RO plant is running optimally.

This is where industrial water quality monitoring systems come into play. By continuously tracking key water quality parameters, these systems enable industries to:

1- Verify if the treated water meets the required purity standards

2- Optimise dosing of pretreatment chemicals

3- Detect membrane fouling or damage

4- Schedule periodic membrane cleaning and replacement 

5- Enhance overall RO system performance and lifecycle

Types of Impurities in Industrial Feed Water

The raw water fed into an industrial RO plant can contain various types of impurities depending on the source. Monitoring these is essential:

1) Particle Matter - Sand, silt, rust, dust, microplastics etc.

2) Colloidal Matter - Clays, metal oxides, microbes

3) Dissolved Inorganics - Calcium, magnesium, sodium salts leading to hardness and high TDS

4) Heavy Metals - Arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium etc. 

5) Organics - Oils, greases, detergents, pesticide residues

6) Gases - Dissolved carbon dioxide, oxygen, hydrogen sulfide

7) Microbiological - Bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae

An effective industrial RO system incorporates various purification stages using membranes, filters, chemical dosing and more to remove each class of contaminants systematically.

Water Quality Parameters to Monitor

The key water quality indicators that need to be continuously monitored in an industrial RO plant include:

1) Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)

Measures total ionic concentration through conductivity. RO permeate should have low TDS.

2) Hardness

Indicates calcium and magnesium content. Should be negligible in RO water.

3) pH

Optimal range is 6.5-8.5 to prevent scaling and corrosion.

4) Turbidity

Measure of suspended particles and colloidal matter. Impacts RO membrane life. 

5) Iron 

Excessive iron can lead to fouling. Needs to be below 0.3 ppm.

6) Chlorine

Residual chlorine can damage RO membranes. Should be dechlorinated.

7) Microbial Count

Critical to monitor bacteria, viruses for food/pharma industries.

8) Silt Density Index (SDI)

Indicates fouling tendency of feed water. Optimal SDI is <3.

Modern industrial water quality monitoring systems utilise multi-parameter digital sensors and probes to measure all these critical quality indicators in real-time simultaneously.

Advantages of Online Quality Monitoring

Having an integrated online water quality monitoring system offers several advantages:

1- Early detection of any deviation from set purity levels

2- Enables automated dosing of antiscalants, antimicrobials, etc.

3- Optimizes RO operating parameters like pressure, recovery, membrane flushing

4- Continuously logs quality data for historical analysis 

5- Triggers alarms for any Out-of-Spec situation

6- Minimises manual sampling and lab testing

7- Improves membrane life through timely cleaning and replacement

8- Ensures consistent water quality supplied to industrial processes

9- Monitors effluent discharge quality for environmental compliance

By automating quality monitoring, industries can enhance the performance, efficiency and reliability of their RO plants while ensuring consistent water quality as per requirements.

Netsol Water’s Industrial RO Quality Monitoring

Netsol Water is a leading provider of high-purity industrial RO systems. Their customised solutions incorporate advanced online multiparameter water quality monitoring systems.Netsol designs turnkey industrial RO plants with quality monitoring integrated from raw water intake to RO permeate and concentrate streams. The monitoring data is logged in a central SCADA system that generates automated reports and analytics.

This empowers Netsol Water’s industrial clients to:

1- Optimize chemical dosing and pretreatment

2- Enhance RO membrane performance and lifespan

3- Ensure consistent high-purity water supply 24x7 

4- Minimize operational costs through data-driven decision support

5- Easily validate water quality for environmental compliance

With over 20 years of experience serving major sectors like pharmaceutical, automotive, power, textiles and more, Netsol Water delivers robust industrial RO solutions integrated with IoT-enabled quality monitoring systems. This ensures industries get constant access to highly purified water while automating quality control and maximising their RO asset's efficiency.

Netsol Water is Greater Noida-based leading water & wastewater treatment plant manufacturer. We are industry's most demanding company based on client review and work quality. We are known as best commercial RO plant manufacturers, industrial RO plant manufacturer, sewage treatment plant manufacturer, Water Softener Plant Manufacturers and effluent treatment plant manufacturers. Apart from this 24x7 customer support is our USP. Call on +91-9650608473, or write us at enquiry@netsolwater.com for any support, inquiry or product-purchase related query.