Desalination Water Treatment

HydroFLOW® clamps around the outside of the feed pipe and induces a patented ~150 kHz electronic signal into the water. The signal makes dissolved scale-forming minerals crystallise in suspension as fine particles carried through to the reject, rather than bonding as hard scale on membrane surfaces. It also disrupts the conditions biofilm needs to settle, helping control biofouling. It conditions the RO feed physically — it doses nothing into the water and needs no plumbing changes — and the signal travels along the pipework, so one point of installation protects the pretreatment and feed line continuously, 24/7.

Yes. Because HydroFLOW® keeps scale-forming minerals in suspension instead of letting them deposit, it targets the same problem antiscalant dosing addresses in reverse osmosis desalination — so it can reduce scale-control chemical demand while helping protect flux and rejection. It works alongside the rest of the pretreatment train. Any biocide, dechlorination or process chemistry is separate and should be maintained as your plant’s design and standards require; HydroFLOW® targets the scale-related share of chemical spend.

Yes. The same electronic signal disrupts the surfaces biofilm, mussels and barnacles need to settle, so it helps control biofouling in seawater intakes, screens and feed lines. On real seawater systems, HydroFLOW® cleared mussel fouling and restored flow on a Cape Town seawater line, and cut CIP cleaning by 86% on a seawater circuit — the same physics that protects a desalination plant intake and RO feed. Biofouling control should always be verified against your plant’s monitoring and any statutory requirements.

Yes. HydroFLOW® fits on the outside of steel, GRP or plastic pipework and suits seawater intakes, pretreatment, RO feed, brine and reject lines across seawater and brackish desalination plants. Because it installs without cutting into the line, units can be fitted while the plant stays in service, and correctly sized units protect the run from a small number of installation points — with no consumables and continuous 24/7 operation.

Yes. The physics is the same in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) and brackish water desalination: as recovery rises, calcium carbonate and calcium sulphate supersaturate and deposit on the desalination membrane. HydroFLOW® conditions the feed in both cases, keeping minerals crystallising in suspension. Brackish plants, which often run at higher recovery and scale harder on the last stage, typically see the strongest scale-control benefit; seawater plants gain most on biofouling and CIP reduction.

Membrane fouling drives most of a desalination plant’s controllable operating cost. Reverse osmosis already accounts for more than 80% of installed desalination capacity worldwide, and a modern SWRO plant uses roughly 2.5–6 kWh of electricity per cubic metre — fouled membranes push that energy figure up, cut permeate output, force extra CIP chemical cleans and shorten the life of the plant’s most expensive consumable. Chemical-free pretreatment that keeps membranes cleaner attacks all four costs at once: energy per cubic metre, chemicals, downtime and membrane replacement.