
VI.
RO CLEANING & SANITIZATION PROCEDURES
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Section Summary
This section contains the following information:
Safety Precautions - Overview of safety precautions to be exercised while cleaning or
sanitizing RO systems.
Recommended Cleaning Equipment - Additional equipment required for RO
cleaning and sanitizing operations.
Cleaning Chemicals - Overview of recommended cleaning and sanitizing chemicals
and handling guidelines
Cleaning Procedures - Procedures for cleaning and sanitizing RO systems.
A)
Introduction
Even under controlled operating conditions, Reverse Osmosis membranes will
eventually become fouled with mineral scale, colloidal particles, insoluble
organic matter and/or biological growth. This build-up will cause a decrease in
product water flow, a decrease in ion rejection, or both. The following criteria
are generally accepted as indications that cleaning/sanitization is required.
10 percent decrease in normalized product water flow.
Substantial increase in salt content of the product water.
15 percent increase in normalized differential pressure across the
membrane.
NOTE
It should be noted that a decrease in water temperature will result in a
decrease in product water flow and increase in the differential pressure
across the membrane. This is not indicative of a requirement for cleaning.
Cleaning
The term “cleaning” refers to the chemical removal of mineral scale, colloidal
particles and/or insoluble organic matter.
Sanitization
The term “sanitization” refers to the chemical removal of biological matter
with special reference to the reduction of bacteria levels in the system.
Cleaning operations are frequently carried out without sanitization. However,
sanitization is nearly always preceded by cleaning.