MEMBRANE PERVAPORATION FOR REMOVAL OF ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS FROM DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES

CONTAMINATION OF THE NATION'S DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES BY HAZARDOUS, SYNTHETIC VOLATILE ORGANIC CHEMICALS (VOCS) IS BECOMING A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM. THIS PROBLEM IS OF GREAT CONCERN WITH RESPECT TO CONTAMINATED GROUNDWATER. GROUNDWATER IS THESOURCE OF DRINKING WATER FOR ABOUT HALF THE NATION. THE EPAESTIMATES THAT UP TO 20% OF THE DRINKING WATER THAT COMES FROM GORUNDWATER CONTAINS VOCS. METHODS FOR REMOVING VOCS FROM GROUNDWATER THAT ARE COST-EFFECTIVE FOR MANY SIZES OF WATER TREATMENT PLANTS MUST BE DEVELOPED. THIS STUDY WILL EVALUATE THE TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF USING A MEMBRANE-BASED PROCESS--PERVAPORATION--TO EXTRACT THES VOCS FROM DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES. THIS TECHNOLOGY PROMISES TO BE AN INNOVATIVE ALTERNATIVE TO THE EXPENSIVE PROCESSES NOW USED THAT ARE BASED ON PACKED-TOWER AIR STRIPPING AND GRAN- ULAR ACTIVATED-CARBON ABSORPTION. IN MEMBRANE PERVAPORATION, THE DISSOLVED VOC-REMOVAL EFFI- CIENCY OF THE MEMBRANE PERVAPORATION PROCESS. MEMBRANE PER-VAPORATION HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE MORE ENERGY-EFFICIENT ANDAND TO BE SIGNIFICATLY LESS COSTLY THAN PACKED-TOWER AIR- STRIPPING OR GRANULAR ACTIVATED-CARBON ADSORPTION PROCESSES.ICS OF THE MEMBRANE-BASED PERVAPORATION PROCESS FOR COMPARI-SON WITH THOSE OF PACKED-TOWER AIR-STRIPPING AND GRANULAR ACTIVATED-CARBON ADSORPTION. THEY WILL PERFORM THESE ANALY-SES FOR RELATIVELY SMALL-SCALE WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS, AS THE SMALLER-SCALE SYSTEMS ARE THE ONES MOST LIKELY TO BE CONTAMINATED BY VOCS. IF THE PROCESS APPEARS TECHNICALLY ANDCONTINUATION WITH A POLOT-SCALE DEMONSTRATION UNIT AND THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF PHASE III COMMERCIALIZATION. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PHASE I PROGRAM WOULD DEMON- STRATE THE TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF MEMBRANE PERVAPORATION PROCESSES FOR REMOVING VOCS FORM DRINKING SUP-PLIES. IT WOULD ALSO CLEARLY DEMONSTRATE THE MEMBRANE-BASEDSYSTEM'S MAJOR ADVANTAGES OVER THE TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC PACKED-TOWER AIR-STRIPPING AND GRANULAR ACTIVATED-COMMERCIALADSORPTION SYSTEMS. THIS MEMBRANE PROCESS HAS MANY POTEN- TIAL COMMERCIAL WATER TREATMENT APPLICATIONS. SPECIFIC COM-MERCIAL WATER TREATMENT APPLICATIONS RELATED TO THE PHASE I RESEARCH INCLUDE REMOVAL OF VOCS FROM CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER SUPPLIE, AQUIFER, INDUSTRIAL WASTE STREAMS, RECLAIMED WATER, MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER, AND THE SITES OF HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SPILLS.