Image note: Project photography will be added after client and engineering approval. The current illustration is a placeholder and does not depict the installed plant.
A food-grade manufacturing facility in Tatu City needed a dependable source of drinking and process water despite variations in its municipal and borehole water supplies. Spenomatic designed and commissioned a fully automated reverse-osmosis water-treatment plant with a stated treatment capacity of up to 90 cubic metres per hour.
| Industry | Food-grade manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Location | Tatu City, Kenya |
| Application | Drinking and process water |
| Treatment capacity | Up to 90 m³/hour, subject to operating and feed-water conditions |
| Core technology | Reverse osmosis |
| Supporting processes | Chemical dosing, chlorination, dechlorination, antiscalant dosing and UV treatment |
| Automation | Automated process operation and chemical dosing |
| Monitoring and protection | Conductivity monitoring, pressure management, alarms, safety interlocks and automatic shutdown |
| Water sources | Municipal water, supplemented with borehole water when required |
| Commissioning period | October 2017 to January 2018 |
| Continuing support | Maintenance and water-quality monitoring |
Municipal water was the preferred source, but rationing could interrupt supply. Borehole water therefore had to supplement the municipal supply. This improved availability while changing the concentration of dissolved minerals and other impurities entering the plant. Silica, hardness and conductivity required particular attention because changes can affect membrane scaling and treated-water consistency.
Water used for drinking and production had to remain within the facility’s required quality parameters. The system needed to manage dissolved salts, hardness-forming compounds, silica, ionic contaminants and microbiological risks as part of a controlled treatment process.
At up to 90 m³/hour, manual monitoring and dosing would make consistent responses to feed-water changes difficult. The project therefore required automated dosing, process monitoring, alarms and safety interlocks suitable for industrial operation.
The system accommodates municipal and borehole water. When municipal supply is restricted, borehole water can supplement the feed stream while the treatment process manages the resulting changes in mineral content and conductivity.
The pretreatment design incorporates controlled chlorine, sodium metabisulphite and antiscalant dosing. Chlorination supports microbial control, sodium metabisulphite neutralises residual chlorine before chlorine-sensitive RO membranes, and antiscalant helps limit deposits from hardness salts, silica and other scale-forming substances.
High-pressure pumps provide the force needed to overcome osmotic pressure and move the pretreated feed water through semi-permeable membranes. The membranes pass water while rejecting most dissolved salts and many other contaminants, reducing conductivity and dissolved mineral content to meet the facility’s required process-water parameters. The membrane configuration and operating conditions were selected around the raw-water characteristics, required water quality and plant capacity.
Conductivity monitoring provides a rapid operational indication of dissolved ionic content. Measurements at key stages help operators observe changes in incoming water, assess membrane performance and identify unusual conditions. Conductivity is used alongside appropriate chemical and microbiological testing because it does not identify every contaminant.
Ultraviolet treatment provides an additional microbial-control barrier by inactivating susceptible microorganisms. UV does not remove salts, hardness or particles, so it operates as part of the wider treatment process.
The RO process separates purified permeate from a concentrated reject stream. Any recovery, reuse or discharge decision must follow laboratory analysis and applicable environmental requirements because the reject contains higher concentrations of the substances removed from the product water.
The control system coordinates pump operation, chemical dosing, pressure management, conductivity monitoring, treatment sequencing, alarms, safety interlocks and automatic shutdown under unsafe conditions. Automation reduces dosing errors, supports membrane protection and helps the plant respond consistently when source-water conditions change.
The installation has remained in operation since commissioning in early 2018. Continued monitoring is important because municipal and borehole water characteristics can change over time. Routine review allows the engineering team to assess dosing, silica variation, membrane condition and treated-water performance.
This project demonstrates why a high-capacity industrial RO installation must be designed around the intended water use, source-water variability, pretreatment, microbial risks, automation, reject-water management and lifecycle maintenance rather than around the membrane equipment alone.
The plant has a stated treatment capacity of up to 90 cubic metres per hour, subject to operating conditions and feed-water characteristics.
Reverse osmosis substantially reduces dissolved salts and conductivity. Combined with suitable pretreatment, disinfection and monitoring, it helps maintain consistent water quality when source-water characteristics vary.
Borehole water supplements municipal supply during rationing or interruptions. Blending improves availability while requiring the treatment system to manage variations in minerals, silica and conductivity.
Chlorine supports microbial control during pretreatment, but residual chlorine can damage many RO membrane materials. Sodium metabisulphite is therefore dosed to neutralise it before the membrane stage.
No. Antiscalant helps inhibit new deposits from hardness salts, silica and other scale-forming substances. It does not replace appropriate membrane cleaning after significant scale has formed.
UV inactivates susceptible microorganisms by disrupting their ability to reproduce; it does not physically filter them from the water. Its performance depends on suitable pretreatment, operating conditions and maintenance.
Conductivity provides a rapid indication of dissolved ionic content and helps operators track changes in feed water and RO performance. It does not measure every impurity, so it is used alongside appropriate chemical and microbiological testing.
Potentially, but only after its composition and the intended application have been assessed. Reject water contains concentrated salts and is not automatically beneficial to soil. Any recovery, reuse or discharge must follow laboratory findings and applicable environmental requirements.
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