싱가포르의 국영 수도사업자인 PUB가 Tuaspring와 Singspring의 담수화 플랜트에 처음으로 토사(土砂)막을 설치했다. 이번 작업은 물 속 조류가 증가함에 따라 RO 멤브레인의 손상으로부터 시설을 보호하기 위한 것으로, PUB는 지역 주변의 해수에서 조류가 조금씩 증가한다는 것을 발견한 후 토사막을 설치했다고 말했다.

또, PUB는 필요한 경우, 4월 20일 이후로 토사막을 모니터링 하겠다고 밝혔다.

 

 

 

Singapore's national water agency PUB has for the first time installed silt curtains at the waters off Tuaspring and Singspring desalination plants, to protect them from damaging fouling of their reverse osmosis membranes by mounting levels of algae in the water.

 

PUB said it was installing the silt curtains after it had noticed a slight increase in levels of algae in the seawater around that area. The agency said would monitor the situation and, if necessary, the silt curtains will stay on beyond April 20. An algal bloom in the East Johor Strait in recent weeks killed some 600 tonnes of fish at fish farms. Such blooms can be triggered by weather changes, a higher concentration of nutrients in the seawater and poor water exchange between high and low tides.

 

Silt curtains, which drop to the seabed, can help keep out silt particles or other materials. Desalinated water is one of Singapore's four national souces of potable water and the two plants currently can meet up to 25% of the country's water demand.

 

Director of Nanyang Technological University's Maritime Research Centre, Tan Soon Keat said the silt curtains would be able to block out primarily suspended solids and, to a certain degree, oil slicks.

 

He said low-quality intake water may need additional pre-treatment processes that would incur additional cost, added Tan He explained that during dry weather there is more land-based washoff when sudden rain falls on the hard. dry land. He said that there may be elevated levels of phosphorus and nitrate in the runoff. Installing silt curtains, he said, was good practice, as it can buy time for the desalination plant to respond.

 

[출처 = Desalination & Water Reuse / 2015년 3월 24일]