The Effect of Chlorine on RO Membranes: Understanding the Risks and Prevention Tips!

Okay, so today I wanted to mess around with chlorine and RO membranes, just to see what happens. I’ve heard some stuff about chlorine messing up these membranes, so I figured, why not test it out myself?

First thing I did was to get my hands on a standard polyamide RO membrane. You know, the kind that’s used a lot in water purification systems. Then, I prepped a few different water samples. Some had different levels of chlorine in them, and one was just regular water with no chlorine, as my control. I made sure I knew exactly how much chlorine was in each sample, just to keep things precise, or at least I tried.

Then the actual work began. I ran each of these water samples through the RO membrane. I used this little setup where I could force the water through the membrane under pressure, mimicking how it’s done in real RO systems. It’s kind of cool, pushing water and seeing what comes out the other side.

As I was running these tests, I kept a close eye on a few things. I was really focused on how much water was passing through, and how well the membrane was doing at filtering out salt. You know, checking the salt rejection rate. I wrote down all these numbers, like a mad scientist or something.

After running all the samples, the fun part began, analyzing the data. So, what I saw was pretty interesting. The membranes that dealt with chlorine? Their performance dropped like a rock. The higher the chlorine, the worse they performed. They started letting more salt through, which is like, the opposite of what they’re supposed to do.

• Experiment Setup:
  • Used a standard polyamide RO membrane.
  • Prepared water samples with various chlorine concentrations.
  • One sample had no chlorine, as a control.
• Testing Process:
  • Ran each sample through the RO membrane.
  • Forced water through under pressure, simulating real RO systems.
• Observations:
  • Monitored water flow rate and salt rejection.
  • Noted down all readings meticulously.
• Results:
  • Membranes exposed to chlorine showed significant performance decline.
  • Higher chlorine concentrations led to worse membrane performance.
  • Increased salt passage in chlorine-exposed membranes.

But here’s a kicker, the membrane that only saw chlorine-free water? It worked just fine. No issues. It kept doing its job, filtering out salt like a champ.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I also looked at the membranes under a microscope after the tests. The ones that had been exposed to chlorine looked messed up. Like, visibly damaged. It was pretty clear that chlorine had done a number on them.

So, what did I learn from all this? Chlorine and RO membranes don’t mix. If you’ve got chlorine in your water and you’re using an RO system, you’re gonna have a bad time. The membrane will get damaged, and it won’t filter like it should. It’s pretty wild to see it in action, how something as common as chlorine can have such a big impact.

Anyway, that’s my little experiment. It was a good day of getting my hands dirty and seeing some real-world science stuff. If you’re into water treatment or just curious about how these things work, I hope you found this interesting. Let me know if you’ve done anything similar or have questions!