Metro - ECCV Zero Liquid Discharge Pilot Study_Application

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. . . Water Supply Reserve Account - Grant Application Form Form Revised May 2007 4. Please provide an overview of the water project or activity to be funded including - type of activity, statement of what the activity is intended to accomplish, the need for the activity, the problems and opportunities to be addressed, expectations of the participants, why the activity is important, the service area or geographic location, and any relevant issues etc. Please include any relevant TABOR issues that may affect the Contracting Entity. Please refer to Part 2 of Criteria and Guidance document for additional detail on information to include. The Colorado Water Quality Forum's Membrane Treatment Workgroup has recommended to the Colorado Water Quality Commission that there is a need to examine zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technologies for treatment of membrane treatment concentrate. Drinking water providers increasingly have to make use of lower quality water sources and in many cases have turned to membrane treatment, which is a recognized technology that can treat these waters to meet or surpass most water quality objectives. The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB)completed the first phase of the Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI) in 2004. SWSI explored at a statewide level the existing water supplies and existing and projected water demands through the year 2030. This analysis was conducted in each of Colorado's eight major river basins. In addition to examining water supplies and demands, SWSI explored the range of potential options to meet the state's future water demands. The study concluded that municipal and industrial (M&I) water needs will increase by over 600,000 acre-feet per year by the year 2030. A portion of these future water demands will need to be met using lower quality water sources. SWSI identified that much of the high quality water on the Front Range that can be treated with conventional methods has been appropriated. Agricultural sources of water, whether a traditional or alternative transfer, will have a large part in addressing Colorado's future water supply "gaps." Many of the future agricultural transfers will involve the diversion and pumpback of lower quality water. In addition, M&I users will also seek to recapture their reusable return flows for use in their potable water systems. Membrane treatment will be one of the primary water treatment technologies used to produce potable water from these lower quality sources. Without the ability to effectively treat these lower quality sources and produce safe esthetically acceptable potable water, there could be significant M&I water shortages in the state. This project involves pilot testing commercially available equipment for achieving a ZLD. A minimum of two treatment alternatives to be piloted. This pilot study will specifically address capital and operating costs associated with two ZLD technologies for treatment and disposal of reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate streams, thereby allowing Metro basin water providers to better fully understand the implications of residuals management associated with RO treatment. The ZLD pilot plant study will evaluate two RO membrane based technologies to concentrate the residual stream from a typical municipal brackish water RO system. The first technology, called VSEP, uses vibrations at the face of the RO membrane to prevent mineral scales from forming on the membrane, and subsequently preventing the flow of water through the membrane. The second technology uses high pressure seawater RO membranes to reduce the volume of the concentrate, and uses ion exchange to remove ions that would form mineral scales on the membrane face. More information is contained in the attached scope of work and project fact sheet. 6