Water treatment: from Barcelona to Taralga, Australia

Todd Miklich, Business Development Manager - Membranes, Xylem Water Solutions Division Australia, recently took a trip to Barcelona, the capital of Spain. The city’s Saint Joan Despi Water Treatment Plant is currently trialling a pilot plant built by Xylem Spain to assess the potential of ultrafiltration to treat a portion of Barcelona’s water supply.

The Zeeweed 500D Immersed Hollow Fibre Ultrafiltration Membrane was selected by the Spanish office due to its reinforced structure and ability to handle high levels of turbidity. Extra UF modules can be fitted into the membrane cassette frame to double the output of the system from 300-600 kL/day. The whole plant (including chemical dosing and cleaning systems) is built into a 6 m shipping container.

Meanwhile, the small town of Taralga, located 2.5 hours’ drive southwest of Sydney, was having its water supply filtered and treated with UV. Miklich thought the water treatment plant (WTP) he had seen on his trip would be a suitable fit for the town. The compact size, durability and flexibility of the WTP to increase its output, in addition to its ability to treat cold water with a turbidity >80 NTU, were some of the factors taken into account by the city officials in selecting the offer.

Proposed Taralga WTP.

Miklich received technical assistance from the engineers Mario Simarro and David Ambrona in the Spanish office as well as from Christoph Kullmann, the company’s Technical Membrane Manager in Germany. The local officials were comfortable in dealing with Xylem, which had not only partnered with GE to provide a strong technical solution but can also service the plant on a regular basis for a long time into the future.

Miklich hopes the company will be able to provide for the several other small Australian towns with limited municipal water treatment as the rollout of small town WTPs (<700 kL/day) continues across the country.