Abstract
Access to clean water is one of the most important problems that is encountered worldwide even in countries as water-rich. For instance, the Mekong Delta (MD)’s coastal provinces have to face up to alternated flooding and drought periods. Moreover, climate changes inducing less rainfall and salt water intrusion water severely affect the water quality of the area. The main sources of pollution come from the human and farming wastes including fish, livestock and poultry. Pesticide pollution can also be a serious problem in some areas. The deterioration of water quality in the MD and the lack of access to clean water via safe supply systems in the rural communes entail an increase of waterborne diseases related to the salinity, the presence of microorganism and organic pollutants. The study is aimed at investigating the membrane technology to treat surface water in the MD region in order to produce good drinking water. The study was focused on brackish waters containing pesticides. Two synthetic model water samples were chosen as representative of surface waters found in the Mekong Delta. Desalination and pollutant removal were performed using nanofiltration (NF) integrated with electrodialysis. The Nanoflux® software was used to explain the experimental performance of two NF membranes (NF90 and 270). On the other hand, energy consumption of the two coupled processes was also estimated depending on the quality of water feed. All the data obtained should be used in the future to design a demonstrator pilot for the family-sized production of drinking water.