Recovery of the Properties of Spent Commercial Reverse Osmosis Membrane Elements and Ways of their Reuse

Abstract

In connection with the rapidly growing market of reverse osmosis membrane elements, particularly those intended for use in commercial water treatment installations, the problem of their regeneration and reuse has become acute. Today, the service life of such elements does not exceed 6–12 months, after which they turn into plastic waste and end up in landfills in the amount of no less than 60,000 tons per year, which leads to the emergence of serious environmental problems. This paper proposes methods and conditions for achieving almost complete restoration of the properties of used commercial reverse osmosis membrane elements by means of their regeneration and modification. The possibility of using restored elements in vending machines for filling safe physiologically complete drinking water has been demonstrated.