IRJET- Comparison of Desalination by Reverse Osmosis and Solar Powered Methods (original) (raw)

Water is the source of life, the basis of human survival, and the principal material base to guarantee the economy substantial development of a country. With increasing global population, the gap between the supply and demand for water is widening and is reaching such alarming levels that in some part of the world, it is posing a threat to human existence. The fresh water scarcity is a growing problem all over the world because only 1% of earth's water is fresh water available for human to drink. The US geological survey found that 96.5% of earth's water is located in seas and oceans and 1.7% of earth's water is located in the ice caps. The remaining percentage is made up of brackish water, slightly salty water found as surface water in estuaries and as groundwater in salty aquifers. The need for fresh water is at the top of the international agenda of critical problems, at least as firmly as climate change. India as a country has 16% of the world's population and 4% of its fresh water resources. In recent years, the increasing threat to water quality is due to human activities has become a matter of great concern. Problems present today are caused by contamination and by over exploitation, or by combination of both, which are faced by many Indian states. This project deals with comparison of conventional method of desalination ie by solar powered desalination and a technological method of desalination by Reverse osmosis. With current technology; it requires great amounts of energy to desalinate ocean water on a scale large enough to meet the needs of a whole city. For this reason, most cities stick with traditional sources of freshwater, such as underground aquifers, rivers, lakes, and runoff from snowpack. Some people, like those in rural Indian villages, use an alternative to burning oil for desalination-solar power. Today, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are the leading technology for desalination because of their strong separation capabilities and exhibiting a great potential for treatment of waters worldwide. Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination is a treatment process for production of fresh, low salinity potable water from saline water sources via membrane separation. The mineral/salt content of the water is usually measured by the water quality parameter named total dissolved solids (TDS).