Polymer and Separations (PolySep) Research Laboratory

Last update:

10/23/2004

Dr. Julius Glater

Research Interests

	Reverse Osmosis
	Mineral scaling of membranes
	Desalination of agricultural drainage water

Current Project

The semi-arid California San Joaquin Valley, one of the world's largest agricultural regions, requires vast amounts of imported irrigation water.  As a result of an impermeable clay layer close to the surface, tile drainage has been installed in most active farming areas. Drainage is required to prevent salinity build-up and water logging in the root zone of crops.  Proposed drainage water treatment involves a variety of technological and environmental issues. First, this agricultural "waste water" contains several inorganic toxic agents including selenate and borate ions. Waste minimization and disposal thus become critical issues. Secondly, reclamation and re-use of drainage water would help augment diminishing water supplies in California which has experienced water shortages for decades. Design of a satisfactory membrane plant for this mission will require careful optimization of numerous design parameters in an effort to provide water reclamation at minimum cost. 

Present research efforts are focused on two specific areas. The first involves selection of an appropriate nanofiltration membrane for agricultural drainage water desalination. Our second goal involves a pretreatment design for a proposed membrane pilot plant. Future efforts will be concerned with systems for safe disposal of desalination plant waste-water.

Recent Publications:

Lee, Ron-Wai, J. Glater and Y. Cohen, "Low Pressure RO Desalination of Agricultural Drainage Water," Desalination, 155, 109-120, 2003.

Wen-Yi Shih, K. Albrecht, J. Glater and Y. Cohen, "A Dual Probe Approach for Evaluation of Gypsum Crystallization in Response to Antiscalant Treatment," Desalination, in press.

 Contact Information

Email: glater@seas.ucla.edu