If you’re an Original Equipment Manufacturer, you want to design the best RO system you can THAT WILL SELL. If you’re a plant engineer, you want to idenitify a good, cost-effective RO system. If you’re a buyer, you want the lowest capital cost for an RO system. If you’re a manager, you want to purchase an RO system that gives you the water you need at the lowest life-cycle cost, which includes the lowest capitol AND O & M costs. If you operate and/or maintain an RO system, you want a system that runs all the time without a lot of time consuming problems.
But unless you have knowledgeable people specifying systems you will likely receive a low-bid system that costs fewer capital dollars but much more in O & M dollars over the 20+ years of the life of the plant. Not good! Unless you know the features of a good design, you won’t understand how to operate the plant in the most cost effective manner. By understanding good design, you can troubleshoot problems more quickly and effectively.
