St. Eustatius drinking water production by means of Reverse Osmosis System

What is osmosis? Under normal pressure, solution passes from one side to the other until it is equal

Osmosis: The movement of water across a semi permeable membrane Osmosis: The movement of water across a semi permeable membrane. Osmosis is the movement of water (red dots) through a semipermeable membrane to a higher concentration of solutes (blue dots).

Water equalizes

a process by which molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one, thus equalizing the concentrations on each side of the membrane.

What Is Reverse Osmosis and How Does It Work? Seabirds use reverse osmosis to desalinate seawater. They possess a membrane in their throats which allows water molecules to get through and stops the salt. This enables them to drink fresh, unsalted water, and they spit out the salty waste. Humans worked out how to copy this process around 40 years ago for the same reason - to desalinate seawater. When applied pressure exceeds the osmosis pressure, Reverse Osmosis will take place. In the Reverse Osmosis situation, water passes through the membrane to the diluted solution leaving behind dissolved particles.(in this case salt)

When applied pressure exceeds the osmosis pressure, Reverse Osmosis will take place. In the Reverse Osmosis situation, water passes through the membrane to the diluted solution leaving behind dissolved particles.(in this case salt)

What RO Membrane remove? Reverse Osmosis membrane reduces 93%-98% of dissolved minerals, salt and other contaminates from your water supply.  This is where the purification takes place

How the membrane works:

Reverse osmosis is a type of water purification technology. It is not a filtration system, but rather a membrane technology usually used to remove salt from seawater, a process called desalination.

Truth About Reverse Osmosis water Is it Safe to Drink the Water?

Yes, Reverse Osmosis water is very clean and good for our bodies.

Some people claimed to say that RO water is too pure and clean to be good because such perfectly clean mineral-free water does not exist naturally on earth. They forgot about a great thing called RAIN. Rainwater is water that has been stripped of all minerals and is one of the purest and cleanest water on earth. Human beings have relied on drinking rainwater for thousands of years without any negative health effects. Only recently has rainwater been polluted by the industrial age and man’s pollution of the skies. Ask yourself this. What can be more natural than mother-nature’s life giving rain? With all the scientific research that has been done over the years on reverse osmosis water, none has ever documented any negative health effects from water treated by this method.

Some more facts to consider. 1. Bottled Water = RO Water. When you drink many brands of bottled water, you are actually drinking RO treated tap water. 2. Soft Drinks = RO Water. When you drink soft-drinks and soda, you are drinking mineral-free treated RO water. Vitamin water, sports drinks & energy drinks are also made from RO purified water

Reverse osmosis is now used in medicine and industry as a means of purifying or separating water and other solvents from other components. In recent years, it has been used increasingly for making pure water for dialysis in hospitals and for producing Water for Injection.

The truth is many of us have been using and drinking reverse osmosis water in significant part of our lives without even knowing it.

St. Eustatius water production process The source for our drinking water production comes from the sea, via a well. By the use of wells, instead of direct sea water gives your membrane with a longer life. Reduces the ppm

Well schematic view

The well is located next to the water plant building and it is approximately 80 feet deep and is protected by a concrete casing

The sea water supply well Water is pumped from the well into the water plant and into media filters

Media filters

Media Filters removes dirt, silt, rust, and other suspended particles from a water stream with a filtration level of approximately 5 to 15 microns

Media filter: how it works

Cartridge filters is another filtration method used to clean sediments and harmful solids out of the water before entering the membranes.

From the Cartridge Filter the water flows to the first pass Membrane under pressure between 600 to 800 psi

The water (brackish) will then flow to the second pass membranes

The Brackish water will pass thru the second sets of membranes performing the same process, purifying the brackish water into fresh water. (Permeate) The permeate water will then be stored in a buffer tank. Untreated water.

The permeate water would then be transfer to a holding tank while being treated with chlorine and calcium by flowing thru a calcite media filter.

Holding tank @ Gallows Bay

Treated water will then be transfer to the tank in Lodi where it is distributed to the costumers.