Water treatment process

Abstract

The present invention relates to water treatment, in particular to a process for the removal of dissolved organic carbon from water. The process includes the following steps, adding an ion-exchange resin to water containing a contaminant such as dissolved organic carbon, dispersing the resin in the contaminated water to enable adsorption of the dissolved organic carbon onto the resin, and separating the resin loaded with contaminant from the water. In a preferred embodiment the process employs a magnetic ion-exchange resin.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A method for treating drinking water comprising: 
 a) providing raw water to a process tank;    b) adding an ion-exchange resin to the process tank to form a raw water/ion-exchange resin mixture;    c) removing treated water from the process tank through a membrane filter; and    d) regenerating the ion-exchange resin.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the ion-exchange resin is a magnetic ion-exchange resin.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising agitating the raw water/ion-exchange resin mixture sufficiently to maintain the ion-exchange resin in suspension.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising separating the ion-exchange resin from the raw water/ion-exchange resin mixture.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein step (d) comprises adding a regeneration solution to the ion exchange resin.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the ion-exchange resin is a magnetic ion-exchange resin, the method further comprising separating the ion-exchange resin from the raw water/ion-exchange resin mixture using a filter.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising separating regenerated ion-exchange resin from the regeneration solution.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the ion-exchange resin is a magnetic ion-exchange resin and wherein the regenerated ion-exchange resin is separated from the regeneration solution using a filter.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  wherein following separation the regenerated ion-exchange resin from the regeneration solution, the regenerated ion-exchange resin is added to the process tank in step (b).  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5  wherein wherein the regeneration solution is a saline solution.  
     
     
         11 . A method for treating drinking water comprising: 
 a) providing raw water to a process tank;    b) adding a magnetic ion-exchange resin to the process tank to form a raw water/magnetic ion-exchange resin mixture;    c) removing treated water from the process tank through a membrane filter; and    d) separating the magnetic ion-exchange resin from the raw water/magnetic ion-exchange resin mixture using a filter.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising regenerating the ion-exchange resin.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising providing the regenerated magnetic ion-exchange resin to the process tank.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the regenerating step is performed in an external column.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the regenerating step is performed by adding a regeneration solution to the resin.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the regenerating step is performed by adding a saline solution to the resin.  
     
     
         17 . An apparatus for treating drinking water comprising: 
 a process tank for receiving raw water;    an ion-exchange resin supply operatively associated with the process tank to provide ion-exchange resin to raw water within the process tank;    a membrane filter operatively associated with the process tank for separating particulate matter from treated water removed from the process tank through the membrane filter; and    a supply of regeneration solution for regeneration of the ion-exchange resin.    
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17  further comprising a resin separator for recovering ion-exchange resin from an ion-exchange resin/raw water mixture.  
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the ion-exchange resin is a magnetic ion-exchange resin and the resin separator is a filter.  
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 18  further comprising a means for conveying ion-exchange resin from the resin separator to the ion-exchange resin supply.  
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 17  further comprising a resin regenerator.  
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21  wherein the resin regenerator is an external column using a saline solution to regenerate the ion-exchange resin.  
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 21  further comprising means for conveying regenerated ion-exchange resin from the resin regenerator to the ion-exchange resin supply.  
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 17  further comprising an aerator in the process tank for agitating the contents of the process tank.  
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 17  wherein the regeneration solution is a saline solution.  
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 17  further comprising a filter for separating regenerated ion-exchange resin from regeneration solution.