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<br />DANIEL C, M. CRABBE <br /> <br />A cutaway of a typical "Permasep" permeator shows this device as it exists today. The com- <br />mercial size permeator consists of a pressure shell fabriyated from standard 14" schedule 40 steel pipe, <br />A typical permeator would contain approximately 28 inillion fibers representing a surface area of over <br />37,000 miles - more than enough to circle the earth. <br /> <br />(SLIDE 6) <br /> <br />This 14" diameter by 10' long permeator has a permeate capacity from 7000 to 9000 gallons <br />per day, <br /> <br />(SLIDE 7) <br /> <br />Du Pont initiated field testing of a 4" by 7' permeator in the summer of 1967, The unit shown <br />is a van which contained the necessary equipment foritesting and monitoring performance of the Du <br />Pont unit, <br /> <br />(SLIDE 8! <br /> <br />Because of the compactness of the unit, testing in close proximity to existing facilities was <br />feasible, The unit was easily and quickly placed into operation since water supply could be provided <br />by a garden hose and power by running available cable to a 220V single-phase source. <br /> <br />Field tests were conducted on both municipal water and waste water throughout the mid-west <br />and southwest, <br /> <br />(SLIDE 9) <br /> <br />In November of 1967, the Du Pont van set up operation outside the city hall building at Plains, <br />Texas, a small town southwest of Lubbock, near the l\lew Mexico state line. The town of Plains, Tex- <br />as has certainly not been helped economically from a w~ter supply containing from 1800 to 2000 ppm <br />of total dissolved solids, For a comparison, the Public l:Iealth Service recommends a 500 ppm limit on <br />the amount of dissolved solids in drinking water, <br /> <br />(SLIDE 10) <br /> <br />Test results shown here are typical of those obtained in our various field tests. The left hand <br />column on this slide shows the amounts of various ions in the Plains, Texas municipal water supply. <br />Upon passing through the Du Pont membrane, water ,which meets the Public Health Service recom- <br />mendations is produced, In this case, water containing :1960 ppm of total dissolved solids was reduced <br />to 264 ppm. One of the ions of particular interest to Us in this town was the high natural flouride lev- <br />el in the water. Due to the presence of this one ion, many children drink bottled water. Those child- <br />ren who drank primarily municipal water developed badly mottled or stained teeth. In this case, the <br />"Permasep" water contained the correct amount of flouride recommended for this area of the coun- <br />try. <br /> <br />(SLIDE 11) <br /> <br />From this initial test with a 4" diameter permeator, we have progressed to a 14" stationary <br />test now in progress outside the city hall building. Water being collected in a 200 gallon tank is being <br />pumped into the city hall building by means of a small pressure tank pump unit. <br /> <br />(SLIDE 12) <br /> <br />Presently, construction is underway for a 100,000 gallon per day plant shown here which, <br />upon completion, will be the largest reverse osmosis plant in existence. <br /> <br />Moving over into the waste water reclamation area, the Du Pont mobile van was invited to test <br />at the Firebaugh, California research facilities of the Bureau of Reclamation, the Federal Water Pollu- <br />tion Control Administration and the California Depart~ent of Water Resources, <br /> <br />The test site is near the town of Firebaugh in the San Joaquin Valley, about 35 miles north- <br />west of Fresno, Water for agriculture is mainly supplied by irrigation canals owned by the United <br />States and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation. The major problem for these farmers is that as <br />more and more water is brought from the north to irrigate fields, the water collects, becoming salty <br /> <br />-12- <br />