A method and apparatus for treating a water including suspended solids and organics, the method including the method including providing a process stream including suspended solids and organics; adding a predetermined amount of at least one coagulant including at least one of a cationic polymer and nonionic polymer to the process stream to cause coagulation of contaminants including suspended solids and organics; passing the process stream with the coagulant downstream to at least one submicron filtration unit including at least one filter configured to filter particle sizes of about 1 micron or less; filtering the process stream with the at least one submicron filtration unit; and, separating a filtered and unfiltered portion of the process stream from the at least one submicron filtration unit to pass downstream respectively in a filtered and an unfiltered process stream.

Embodiments of the invention provide a reverse osmosis system including a feed water inlet, a reverse osmosis module coupled to the feed water inlet, and at least one blend valve. The blend valve can be coupled to a permeate outlet and the feed water inlet can be capable of blending the feed water and the permeate water to produce mixed water. The blend valve can be adjusted to achieve a desired TDS level in the mixed water.

Disclosed are methods of treating wastewater using a membrane bioreactor and achieving a target phosphorus concentration for the membrane permeate stream. These methods include the steps of dosing a wastewater stream with a rare earth clarifying agent and passing the dosed wastewater stream through the membrane to obtain a membrane permeate stream with a permeate concentration that is less than the phosphorus concentration of the influent stream. This permeate concentration also can be equal to or less than a target phosphorus concentration. In the methods as disclosed herein, the rare earth clarifying agent can be chloride salts of one or more rare earth elements and in certain embodiments, the rare earth clarifying agent can be CeCl.sub.3 and LaCl.sub.3.

The present disclosure relates to a method for determining the necessity of an action and/or a success of an action involving water, especially drinking water, process water or waste water, including steps as follows: providing a retentate of a water filter present in a water conveying line, analyzing the retentate regarding at least one property and/or its chemical composition, and determining the necessity or success of the action and, in given cases, deriving the action from the analysis. Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a system including a means for providing the retentate of a water filter in a water conveying line and a measuring/analytical means for performing the analysis.

A fluid conditioning unit is provided that includes a housing, a cap, a cartridge device, and a filter cartridge. The cap is threadably secured to and unsecured from the housing by rotation about an axis of the housing. The cap forms a removable seal with the housing when secured thereto. The cartridge device is secured to the cap in a manner that restricts movement of the cartridge device with respect to the cap along the axis but allows rotation of the cartridge device with respect to the cap about the axis. The filter cartridge is removably secured to the cartridge device and is disposed in the housing along the axis.

A portable water conditioning system is provided that includes an incoming water inlet; a reverse osmosis stage in fluid communication with the incoming water inlet, the reverse osmosis stage having a permeate outlet and a concentrate outlet; a diversion device having a diversion valve, the diversion valve placing the concentrate outlet in fluid communication with a waste water outlet; a deionizing stage in fluid communication with a pure water outlet; a bypass valve configured to selectively place the permeate outlet in fluid communication with one or more of the waste water outlet, the deionizing stage, and the pure water outlet; and a controller configured to control the diversion device and the bypass valve to provide water at the pure water outlet of a desired condition.

A portable water conditioning system is provided that includes a water conditioner, a first sensor, a second sensor, and a controller. The water conditioner has a plurality of conditioning stages that condition water. The plurality of conditioning stages include, in a direction of flow of the water through the water conditioner, a reverse osmosis stage and a deionizing stage. The first sensor detects a first condition of the water before the reverse osmosis stage. The second sensor detects a second condition of the water after the reverse osmosis stage. The controller is in communication with the first and second sensors and determines a health status of the reverse osmosis stage based the first and second conditions. The first and second conditions each include a level of total dissolved solids of the water.

A reverse osmosis water purifier that monitors Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) at the onset of entering the water filtration system and downstream upon exiting the system. A comparison of the TDS levels is made to each other or predetermined levels, and action is taken regarding whether to bypass the RO filter, or continue filtering through the RO membrane, or combine the two fluid streams. A microbiological barrier filter is introduced in-line with the egress port of a reverse osmosis filter, and downstream of the bypass water circuit. The microbiological filter is utilized to remove microbiological contaminants from the output water, either directly from the RO filter output, or the bypass filter circuit, or both.

A reverse osmosis water purifier that monitors Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) at the onset of entering the water filtration system and downstream upon exiting the system. A comparison of the TDS levels is made to each other or predetermined levels, and action is taken regarding whether to bypass the RO filter, or continue filtering through the RO membrane, or combine the two fluid streams. A microbiological barrier filter is introduced in-line with the egress port of a reverse osmosis filter, and downstream of the bypass water circuit. The microbiological filter is utilized to remove microbiological contaminants from the output water, either directly from the RO filter output, or the bypass filter circuit, or both.

A water filtering system including an inlet, an outlet and a filter positioned between the inlet and the outlet, where feed water enters the inlet and passes through the filter, and filtered water exits the through the outlet. A measurement device is connected to at least one of the inlet and the outlet measures a concentration of Total Dissolved Solids in at least one of the inlet and the outlet. A bypass valve is connected between the inlet and the outlet, and moves between a closed position and an open position, where the filtered water moves from the outlet to the inlet. A controller communicates with the measurement device and the bypass valve and automatically moves the bypass valve to a position between the closed position and the open position based on the concentration of the Total Dissolved Solids in the filtered water measured by the measurement device.