Electrodialysis on the American continent

The Electrodialysis process has been used commercially in the United States to desalt brackish waters for over twenty years. The first municipal installation in Coalinga, California, was commissioned in 1959. The first plant continuously used to produce the total water supply for a community was installed in Buckeye, Arizona, in 1962.

Development of the Electrodialysis Reversal (EDR) process in the early 1970's resulted in a system featuring reduced operation and maintenance due to the elimination of the need to continuously feed acids and chemicals. This process is in use in typical municipal applications in Dell City, Texas, and Coupeville, Washington, along with industrial applications in electronics manufacture. Safe drinking waters are produced by EDR units at a number of highway rest and service areas.

Research and development in electrodialysis is sponsored by Corporate and Government funding. New membrane systems, membrane stack design and applications are under study. High temperature membranes and spacers have been developed for use in a 100,000 gpd seawater desalting system now being assembled for test. The combination of solar electric power and electrodialysis is also under study for use in purifying water in remote locations.

The application of electrodialysis to the treatment of brackish water has grown significantly over the past seven years. Improvements in system reliability, combined with a lowering of operating and maintenance costs resulting from new developments in equipment and technology, should enable electrodialysis applications to continue to grow in the future