Desalination Post-treatment: Boron Removal Process

Why should Boron be removed from drinking water?

The human body contains approximately 0.7 ppm of boron, an element that is not considered as a
dietary requirement. Still, we absorb this element from food , because it is a dietary requirement for
plants. Daily intake is approximately 2 mg. The amount of boron present in fruits and vegetables is
below the toxicity boundary.
At a daily intake of over 5 g of boric acid the human body is clearly negatively influenced, causing
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and blood clotting. Amounts over 20 g are life threatening. Boric acid
irritates the skin and eyes.
A possible correlation exists between the amount of boron in soils and drinking water, and the
occurrence of arthritis among people.
The World Health Organization recommends a
Boron concentration in drinking water below 0.5 mg/L.
EU Standards require a boron level below 1 mg/L
Why should Boron be removed from irrigation water?
Boron can be toxic at very low concentration levels. Boron concentration lower than 1mg/L is
essential for plant development, but higher levels can cause problems in sensitive plants. Most plants
exhibit toxicity problems when the concentration of boron exceeds 2mg/L (see table below).
Tolerance Note
Very sensitive

Concentration of boron in
soil water (mg/L)Note2

Agricultural crop

<0.5

Blackberry

Sensitive

0.5-1.0

Peach, cherry, plum, grape, cowpea,

onion, garlic, sweet, potato, wheat,
barley, sunflower, sesame,
strawberry

Moderately sensitive

1.0-2.0

Red pepper, pea, carrot, radish,

potato, cucumber

Moderately tolerant

2.0-4.0

Lettuce, cabbage, celery, turnip, oat,

corn, artichoke, tobacco, mustard,
squash

Tolerant

4.0-6.0

Tomato, alfalfa, purple, parsley,

sugar-beet

Very tolerant

6.0-15.0

Asparagus

Source: Extracted from the Australian Water Quality Guidelines for Fresh & Marine Waters (ANZECC)
Note. Tolerance will vary with climate, soil conditions and crop varieties
Note2. Maximum concentration tolerated in irrigation water without reduction in yield are
approximately equal to soil water values.

Why does desalinated water need a further Boron Removal Process?

Boron occurrence in seawater varies from 4 to 5.5 mg/L, proportionally to seawater salinity. It mainly
comes from waste water treatment plants discharge, begin used in soap and detergents, as well as
agricultural fertilizers.
Boron is present in water as Boric Acid H3BO3 and borate H3BO2-. The dominant form of boron
species depends on the pH of the water. The pKa of H3BO3/H3BO2- is 9.2, therefore the equilibrium
H3BO3 <--> H3BO2-+ H+ is typically towards the left at standard seawater pH 8.

Reverse Osmosis membranes are very efficient at removing charged species like the borate ion
rather than neutral molecules like boric acid.
Typical Boron removal rates at pH 8 are between 73 and 90% for standard High Rejection Seawater
Reverse Osmosis membranes, depending on the water temperature. Special High Boron Removal
membrane can achieve a 95% removal.

Most of the time, high salinity seawater have high Boron content and are located in very hot climate
o
area like the Persian Golf, the Red, the Eastern Mediterranean sea or the Caribbean Sea. At 30 C,
Boron removal drops at about 78%, leaving 1.15 mg/L in the Pass-1 permeate stream. Therefore, a
specific Boron Removal Process is required to achieve the 0.5 mg/L required by the WHO.

How can Boron removed be from desalinated water?

Depending on the water salinity, boron concentration and temperature, two main processes are used
to produce drinking water below 0.5 mg/L of Boron:
Process A 2-pass SWRO:
2nd-Pass RO with caustic soda addition to raise pH around 9.5. Some of the pass-1 permeate can be
by-passed in order to keep some minerals in the water. The 2nd pass RO can be made of Seawater
Low Energy membranes if temperature and salinity are high or Brackish Water High rejection
membrane in case of milder conditions.
Process B SWRO+ IX:

Selective Boron Ion Exchange Resin with or without by-pass, depending on the residual boron
concentration needed. The selective resin must be on-site regenerated with caustic soda and
hydrochloric acid. A double column system is often required to ensure a continuous production.

Comparison Parameters

Process A

Boron residual concentration 0.3-1.0 mg/L

Energy costs

Higher - HPP2 power consumption

Investment costs

Higher - Second Pass RO

Chemicals costs
Footprint
Water quality

Recommendations

Process B
0-1.0 mg/L

Higher - Resin Regeneration by NaOH, HCl

Larger
Poor mineralization without by-pass, low
sodium chloride content

High mineralization with or without by-pass

due to resin selectivity, high sodium chloride
content

Cost efficient for drinking water

Cost efficient for irrigation water for sensitive

production at 0.5 mg/L Boron residual

crops with Boron residual tolerance between

max.

0.5 and 1.0 mg/L