Reverse osmosis for industrial wastewater treatment

The fundamental resource of economic, social and cultural development of the world is water. A very small amount of the global water is available for direct accessibility. Unfortunately, this limited amount of available global water is being polluted by industrial plants. The ever-evolving and increasing strict regulatory standards for discharging effluents from industries pose huge environmental and economic implications because of bulk deposition in the environment. While the world faces an increased scarcity in fresh water supply, it is of great importance that the wastewater from the industries can be treated, recycled and reused. Reverse osmosis (RO) can be applied to process or convert industrial wastewater into clean water or into effluents that can be recycled directly to the environment or reused for other purpose. This chapter provides an overview on the use of RO in the treatment of different industrial wastewaters analyzing specific challenges and perspectives. The major sources of industrial wastewaters, their characterization and specific pre-treatments are also analyzed and discussed.