It is crucial to clean RO membranes at an early stage of fouling. It is often difficult to clean excessively fouled membranes and irreversible damage can occur during the cleaning process.
From experts’ point of view, an RO membrane needs to be cleaned when the flow rate has decreased by roughly 10% from accepted test conditions. A membrane cleaning should also take place if there’s an overall pressure drop of 15% over initial accepted test conditions. Unfortunately, many medical and industrial professionals don’t heed these explicit guidelines which can damage the membrane surface and lead to noticeable performance dips. As mentioned, if an RO clean is left unchecked for too long, it can even permanently damage the membrane surface which requires costly, time-intensive repairs.
When you’re cleaning a membrane, it’s important to analyze both your water and your system operations. By taking a look at these two specific features, you’re ruling out potential foulants and making it easier to determine what is impacting the membrane surface. It’s also a good idea to do this before you undergo a membrane cleaning so you can make the actual process run a bit more smoothly.
