Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Contact with
us for any
soluton
Custom High-Pressure Membrane Systems
DTRO Membrane Systems for High-TDS Wastewater & Landfill Leachate
Memva designs and manufactures disc tube reverse osmosis (DTRO) systems for wastewater streams where salinity, fouling potential or feed variability make conventional spiral-wound RO difficult to operate. System pressure, staging, recovery target and pretreatment are selected from your actual water analysis rather than a one-size-fits-all specification.
Application Fit
When Should You Consider a DTRO System?
DTRO is normally evaluated when the wastewater is too saline, variable or fouling-prone for a conventional RO layout, or when membrane pre-concentration can reduce the load on downstream evaporation.
01 · Difficult Feed
High fouling or scaling potential
The open disc-tube flow path is designed for difficult wastewater and can be more tolerant of suspended solids, organics and scaling risk than tightly spaced spiral-wound modules.
02 · High Salinity
Elevated TDS or osmotic pressure
High-pressure DTRO configurations can be considered when the feed salinity requires more operating pressure than a conventional wastewater RO system can practically provide.
03 · Leachate
Landfill leachate treatment
DTRO can be used in landfill leachate treatment trains, but the correct position of the membrane stage depends on COD, ammonia, suspended solids, salinity and the required discharge or reuse quality.
04 · ZLD
Pre-concentration before evaporation
For suitable wastewater, DTRO can recover part of the water and reduce the hydraulic volume sent to an MVC/MVR evaporator or other downstream concentration step.
Important: DTRO is not automatically a “no-pretreatment” solution. Pretreatment, pH
control, antiscalant,
filtration or biological treatment may still be required depending on the feed chemistry and treatment
target.
Technology
How Disc Tube Reverse Osmosis Works
DTRO uses reverse osmosis membranes in a disc-tube module with an open flow channel. Pressure drives water through the membrane while salts and other rejected constituents remain in the concentrate stream.
Feed conditioning
Wastewater is equalized and conditioned as required. The pretreatment scope is selected from suspended solids, hardness, silica, organics, pH and other scaling or fouling indicators.
High-pressure membrane separation
A high-pressure pump supplies the pressure required to overcome osmotic pressure and drive permeation through the RO membrane.
Open-channel crossflow
Flow through the disc-tube geometry creates crossflow and turbulence intended to reduce concentration polarization and pollutant deposition on the membrane surface.
Permeate and concentrate management
Permeate is routed to reuse, polishing or discharge as required. Concentrate can be recirculated, further concentrated, evaporated or otherwise managed according to the project and local regulations.
Technology Comparison
DTRO vs. Conventional Spiral-Wound RO
Both technologies use reverse osmosis membranes. The key difference is the module and flow-channel configuration, which changes how each system handles difficult feedwater and high-pressure operation.
| Selection Factor | DTRO | Conventional Spiral-Wound RO |
|---|---|---|
| Flow channel | Open disc-tube channel designed for difficult wastewater | Tighter feed-spacer channel with higher sensitivity to suspended solids and fouling |
| Typical feed challenge | High TDS, variable wastewater, leachate, RO concentrate, high fouling potential | Cleaner or more consistently pretreated feedwater |
| Pressure capability | High-pressure configurations are available; final rating depends on the selected module and system design | Depends on membrane type and pressure-vessel design; often lower for industrial wastewater RO |
| Pretreatment | Can be less restrictive in selected applications, but pretreatment is still project-specific | Usually requires tighter control of suspended solids and fouling potential |
| Best use case | Difficult feed where robustness and concentration capability justify the system cost | Feedwater that can be economically conditioned for standard RO operation |
Engineering Parameters
DTRO System Specifications Should Match the Feedwater
A DTRO system should not be selected from pressure, TDS or recovery rate alone. Full ionic composition, scaling potential, target permeate quality and concentrate strategy all affect the final design.
| Parameter | How Memva Approaches It |
|---|---|
| System capacity | Configured from hourly/daily flow, operating hours, peak load and redundancy requirements. |
| Operating pressure | Selected from feed osmotic pressure, target recovery and membrane limits. High-pressure configurations up to 120 bar can be evaluated where the selected components are rated for it. |
| Feed TDS | Evaluated together with ionic composition and scaling risk rather than treated as one universal maximum value. |
| Salt rejection / permeate quality | Depends on membrane selection, temperature, feed chemistry, pressure and staging. Proposal guarantees should be based on defined design conditions. |
| Recovery rate | Project-specific. It is set by osmotic pressure, concentration factor, scaling potential, stage design and concentrate disposal or evaporation strategy. |
| pH and cleaning range | Defined by the selected membrane element, cleaning chemistry and materials of construction. |
| Automation | PLC-based control can be configured for pressure, flow, conductivity, tank level, alarms, flushing and cleaning sequences. |
Note: Published values should match your actual membrane datasheet and guaranteed design conditions. Do not present a universal recovery or maximum TDS as a guaranteed value for every wastewater.
Sizing Information
What We Need to Size a DTRO System
A useful quotation starts with wastewater data. Sending only “capacity” or “TDS” is usually not enough to select a reliable membrane configuration.
- Average and peak flow rate (m³/day or m³/h)
- TDS or conductivity
- COD / TOC and ammonia if relevant
- pH and operating temperature
- Suspended solids / turbidity
- Hardness, calcium, magnesium and alkalinity
- Silica, sulfate, chloride and other key ions
- Metals, oil or special contaminants if present
- Current pretreatment or upstream process
- Required permeate quality or discharge standard
- Water-reuse or ZLD objective
- Concentrate disposal or downstream evaporation plan
Custom Engineering
What Can Be Customized in a DTRO System?
Industrial wastewater varies from plant to plant. The equipment configuration should therefore follow the actual process conditions instead of a fixed catalogue template.
Capacity & staging
Module quantity, number of stages, circulation strategy and redundancy can be adapted to the required flow and recovery objective.
Pressure & membrane selection
Pressure rating and membrane type are selected around salinity, permeate target and the allowable operating envelope.
Pretreatment
Filtration, pH conditioning, antiscalant, softening or biological treatment can be integrated where the feedwater requires it.
Materials of construction
Wetted materials, pumps, piping and valves can be selected for chloride level, pH, corrosion risk and site requirements.
Cleaning strategy
Flushing and CIP logic should be designed around fouling indicators, permeability decline and the selected membrane supplier's limits.
Controls & instrumentation
PLC logic, conductivity monitoring, flow and pressure instruments, alarms and remote-support functions can be configured for the operating team.
Applications
Where DTRO Is Commonly Evaluated
The technology is most relevant where the feed presents a combination of salinity, fouling risk and discharge or water-recovery pressure.
Landfill leachate
Variable leachate containing salts, refractory organics, ammonia and suspended matter may require a multi-barrier treatment train. DTRO can be evaluated as part of that train based on actual feed quality.
Industrial high-salinity wastewater
Chemical, pharmaceutical, metal-processing and other industrial streams can require high-pressure membrane concentration when dissolved salts make conventional treatment difficult.
RO concentrate / brine
DTRO may be used to recover additional water from suitable RO concentrate before the remaining brine moves to a thermal or disposal step.
Zero Liquid Discharge
In a ZLD process, DTRO can serve as a membrane concentration stage before evaporation, helping reduce the volume that requires thermal treatment.
Process Integration
How DTRO Can Fit Into a ZLD Treatment Train
The most economical route depends on feed chemistry and the final treatment target. A typical concept may combine pretreatment, membrane recovery and thermal concentration rather than asking one machine to perform every treatment step.
Equalization & Pretreatment
DTRO Membrane Stage
Permeate Reuse / Polishing
Concentrate to Evaporation
For suitable ZLD projects, membrane concentration can reduce the hydraulic load on the thermal stage.
Explore Memva's MVC
evaporator
when the remaining brine requires evaporation.
Why Memva
Engineering Support Beyond the Membrane Skid
Memva's public company information describes an integrated capability covering wastewater treatment design, equipment manufacturing, factory testing, installation guidance and after-sales technical support.
Project-specific configuration
Equipment selection is based on wastewater characteristics, capacity, treatment target and site conditions.
Factory acceptance testing
System checks before shipment help confirm the agreed equipment configuration and basic operating functions.
Installation guidance
Technical documentation and installation support can be coordinated with the customer's site team.
After-sales technical support
Remote assistance, operating guidance and spare-parts support can be included according to the project scope.
Related Resources
Evaluate the Complete Wastewater Treatment Route
Buyers comparing DTRO usually also need to understand pretreatment, concentrate handling, evaporation and relevant project experience.
Project Application
Landfill Leachate Treatment
See how leachate treatment can require pretreatment, biological treatment and membrane polishing rather than one standalone unit.
View application → Downstream ConcentrationMVC Evaporator
Compare membrane pre-concentration with thermal evaporation when a project targets brine reduction or ZLD.
Explore MVC → ExperienceWastewater Treatment Projects
Review Memva's published industrial wastewater applications and project pages.
Browse projects →Buyer Questions
DTRO Membrane System FAQ
These answers are written to help engineering and procurement teams decide what information is needed before requesting a system proposal.
What is a DTRO membrane system used for?
DTRO is used for difficult wastewater where salinity, suspended matter, organics or fouling risk
make conventional spiral-wound RO challenging.
Typical applications include landfill leachate, high-salinity industrial wastewater, RO concentrate
and membrane pre-concentration before evaporation.
Can DTRO treat raw landfill leachate directly?
Sometimes a DTRO configuration can tolerate more difficult feed than conventional RO, but “direct
treatment” should not be promised without reviewing the water analysis.
High COD, ammonia, suspended solids, hardness, silica, metals and the required effluent quality can
still make pretreatment or biological treatment necessary.
What recovery rate can a DTRO system achieve?
There is no single recovery rate that applies to every wastewater. Recovery is limited by feed
salinity, osmotic pressure, scaling potential,
membrane selection, stage design and the planned concentrate management route. The design value
should be stated under defined feedwater and operating conditions.
How is DTRO different from standard RO?
The main difference is the module geometry. DTRO uses an open disc-tube flow channel designed for
difficult feed,
while conventional industrial RO commonly uses spiral-wound elements with tighter feed spacers.
Does DTRO require pretreatment?
Pretreatment is project-specific. DTRO can be more tolerant of fouling-prone feed than standard
spiral-wound RO,
but filtration, pH adjustment, antiscalant, softening, oxidation control or biological treatment may
still be needed.
How often does a DTRO system need cleaning?
Cleaning frequency depends on feedwater quality, recovery, flux, scaling tendency and operating
control.
A sound maintenance plan uses pressure, flow, conductivity and normalized performance trends to
determine when flushing or CIP is required.
When should DTRO be combined with an evaporator?
For suitable high-salinity wastewater or ZLD projects, DTRO can recover water and reduce the volume
sent to an evaporator.
The economic benefit depends on membrane recovery, concentrate chemistry, energy cost and the
required final solids or discharge route.
What information should I send for a quotation?
Send the flow rate, recent water analysis, TDS or conductivity, COD/TOC, pH, temperature, suspended
solids,
key ions or hardness data, current treatment process and your required permeate, reuse, discharge or
ZLD target.
Project Evaluation
Send Your Wastewater Data for DTRO Sizing & Quotation
To receive a technically useful proposal, include your daily flow, water analysis and target treatment result. If you already have a laboratory report, mention the main values in the message and tell us what you need the treated water or concentrate to achieve.