N e w s a n d V i e w s

from handl ing damage and operating pressure forces. The core is designed to provide effective media support and tolerate high differential pressures. The 0.2 micron filters are only the first of a wide range of micron ratings that will be manufac tured with this membrane, says Osmonics.

Further Informatlon from: Osmonlcs Inc, 5951 Clearwater Drive, Mlnnetonka, MN 55343-8990, USA. Tel: +1 612 933 2277. Fax: +1 612 933 0141.

R e v e r s e o s m o s i s u s e d to t r e a t landf i l l l e a c h a t e Rochem Environmental , Inc has launched its first US landfill leachate project, to treat 200 000 gallons of leachate at the Habersham County Landfill near Clarksville, Georgia, USA.

If the t reatment results are comparable to previous applications, the company expects to be selected as the permanent provider of leachate t reatment for the estimated 20+ year life of the landfill.

The company 's reverse osmosis system uses a unique patented Disc Tube TM which is a chamber of discs interleaved with fiat membrane cushions. Contaminated water is fed into the pressure vessel where the flow is controlled as it passes through the discs and over the membranes . Clean water is progressively removed and the waste material concentrated.

During a 30-day pilot test period, the company wiU process up to 10 000 ganons of leachate per day, with the treated leachate periodically sampled and tested. Test results from the first week of operation showed contaminant reductions in excess of 98%, with many contaminants below detection limits.

Chemical oxygen demand (COD), for example, decreased 99.7%, from 1700 ppm to below detection levels. Total suspended solids were reduced more than 98.5%, from 340 ppm to below detection levels. Total dissolved solids dropped 97.6%, from 1300 ppm to 31 ppm, m u c h lower than the Georgia drinking water s tandard of 500 ppm.

These preliminary results were comparable to those achieved at more than 30 European landfills during the pas t six years. Rochem Disc Tube TM

systems have consistently met or exceeded European clean water s tandards that are more strict than US requirements, achieving contaminant reductions in excess of 99%.

Opened in October 1993, the Habersham County municipal solid-waste landfill is designed to serve 30 000 county residents and is the only Subtitle-D landfill in nor theas tern Georgia. Subtitle-D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1989 requires landfills to collect, test and treat leachate, a regulation expected

to require closure of nearly half the USA's 6000 municipal landfills, and major changes in the design and operation of all new disposal sites .

Further informatlon from: Rochem Environmental Inc, 610 N. Mllby Street, Houston, TX 77003, USA. Tel: +1 713 224 7626. Fax: +1 713 224 7627.

R O / C D I s y s t e m p r o d u c e s pur i f i ed w a t e r United States Filter Corp has announced it has completed the installation of a custom-designed RO/CDI (reverse osmos i s /con t inuous deionization) system at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc of Ridgefleld, Connecticut, USA. The system will produce USP-grade purified water for use throughout the plant, replacing a chemically regenerated deionized water system.

The RO/CDI system combines two proven technologies to yield cost-effective ultra-high-puri ty water without using hazardous chemicals. RO does the bulk deionization and removes particles, bacteria and total dissolved solids. CDI technology does the final polishing to reduce silica content to less than 10 parts per billion (ppb) and total organic carbon levels to less than 50 ppb.

Cont inuous deionization is a patented process that uses ion exchange resins, ion exchange membranes and an electrical current to purify water. CDI systems use electricity instead of acid and caustic to continuously regenerate the resins, producing consistent, high-purity water (up to 18 megohm-cm resistivity) with no downtime. The process produces a very small wastewater stream that can be safely discharged into municipal collection systems without special treatment.

The system installed at Boehringer Ingelheim also includes pretreatment, polishing mixed-bed service deionization (SDI), ultraviolet (UV) sterilization, 0.1 pm final filtration, water-quality monitoring instrumentat ion and a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) distribution system.

Further Information from: US Fllter / Ionpure, I0 Technology Drive, Lowell, MA 01851, USA. Tel: +I 508 934 9349. Fax: +1 508 441 6025.

Call for p a p e r s on i o n e x c h a n g e IEX '96 to be held from 14-19 Ju ly 1996 in Cambridge, UK, is the latest in the series of Society of Chemical Indust ry (SCI) conferences on ion exchange.

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