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WHERE TO START ?
1. Determine the salinity (also known as TDS or Total Dissolved Salts) of your source water.
For sea water, the salinity is about the same all over the world except for inland seas. For brackish water, you can get salinity measurement done by local laboratory, or send a sample to Blue Spring Corporation by contacting us. You can roughly determine salinity of water by tasting it: If it tastes slightly salty, then it is 1,000-2,000 mg/L. If it is salty enough that you may feel nauseated, then it is 2,000-5,000 mg/L. Use low-salinity water purifiers. If it is so salty that you will vomit within a few minutes, then the salinity is 10,000 -45,000 mg/L For 5,000-20,000 mg/L salinity, use brackish water desalinators. For higher salinities, use sea water desalinators.
2. Determine the amount of water you will need in a day.
Allow for at least 30% excess capacity to take care of fouling of membranes, cold water temperatures in the winter, etc. Households usually need minimum 5 gallon of drinking and cooking water per day. Total domestic water requirements vary from 15 gallons per day per household to about 120 gallons per day per household depending on lifestyle. 50 gallons per day per household is the average number. Communities should allow for water requirements of businesses, road-side landscaping, etc.
3. Determine the quality of the product water you need.
In most cases, W.H.O. (World Health Organization) or U.S. E.P.A. (United States Environmental Protection Agency) standards for drinking water are adequate for home use and for municipal use of water. In case of industrial uses, additional purification equipment may be required due to higher quality standards. For agricultural water, drinking water standards are adequate.
4. Determine the available power source.
Desalination systems based on electric power source are the most common and the least expensive to purchase. Select electric-powered units.
Solar power driven desalinators are much more expensive to purchase, but they usually pay for themselves in 10-15 years because the solar energy is free. Solar power source requires considerable amount of mounting surface. Solar systems are particularly attractive near the equator because there is abundance of strong Sunlight in this zone.
Desalination systems based on Diesel power source are only slightly more expensive to purchase than electric source. They are slightly cheaper to operate, but they require more maintenance than electric power source. Also, availability of Diesel fuel should be considered.
4. Use the diagram and the chart below to select the Equipment Series of the desalinator. Clicking on the Equipment Series will lead you to the WebPage that gives more detailed information.
5. After going to the appropriate WebPage describing the correct Equipment Series, refer to the specifications chart related to the series, and select the model that produces the required amount of water per day.
For technical assistance by e-mail in selection of the correct desalination system, please click here 8
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