Keeping a desalination plant running through harmful algal blooms and jellyfish swarms — resilient screening, DAF pre-treatment and bloom-response strategy that protect the membranes and avoid the forced shutdowns that blooms have caused worldwide.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) and jellyfish swarms are among the most disruptive events a seawater desalination plant faces. A dense bloom releases organics, transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) and cells that blind media filters and foul membranes in hours; a jellyfish swarm can physically blind intake screens and force an emergency stop. Both are becoming more frequent. Reynolds & Bauhm designs the intake and pre-treatment to ride these events out — high-capacity continuous-clean screening, DAF that floats what filters cannot hold, and a monitored bloom-response strategy that keeps the membranes safe and the plant producing.
Bloom cells and sticky transparent exopolymer particles blind media filters, spike SDI and foul membranes — the organic load is as damaging as the particles.
Some HABs release toxins and dissolved organic carbon that pass conventional pre-treatment and can break through to product water if not addressed.
Swarms blind screens en masse, overwhelming conventional cleaning and risking an unplanned shutdown — a recurring cause of plant outages on affected coasts.
Continuous-clean travelling band screens with generous open area and spray-wash absorb a gelatinous load that would blind a passive screen — sized for the worst recorded swarm.
Intake ScreeningDissolved air flotation floats algal cells, oil and low-density organics that sink-and-blind media filters — the single most effective bloom defence ahead of filtration.
DAF Pre-TreatmentUF gives an absolute particle barrier that holds SDI low through a bloom, where media filters would break through — resilience the membranes depend on.
SDI & Pre-TreatmentOnline chlorophyll, turbidity and TEP monitoring give advance notice so coagulant, DAF and filtration can be ramped before the bloom hits the membranes.
Intake MonitoringWhere feasible, a subsurface intake side-steps blooms and swarms entirely — the seabed never passes jellyfish or surface-bloom cells.
Subsurface IntakesA pre-agreed operating strategy — dose changes, flow turn-down, additional barriers — turns a crisis into a managed procedure.
HAB ResponseTell us the site’s bloom and swarm history and the plant capacity — we’ll design the screening, DAF and pre-treatment resilience and a bloom-response strategy to keep you producing.
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