GLOSSARY
ALADYR is an institution focused on the dissemination and promotion of technologies and projects for Desalination and Treatment of Water and Effluents for Reuse and Consumption. Therefore, we provide this definition of terms to the community to standardize concepts among stakeholders such as media, educational institutions, companies, organizations, and government agencies.
If you would like to add any terms to our glossary or correct any mistakes in the terms here, please contact us.
*Aeration: A technique used in water treatment that requires a source of oxygen, commonly known as aerobic biological water purification. This technique brings water into contact with air droplets or by spraying the air with aeration facilities. Then presses the air through the water surface, and bubbles and supplies water with oxygen.
Aquifers: according to the RAE it is a water-bearing underground layer. In ALADYR context it can be used to refer to natural groundwater deposits or streams.
Brackish Water: according to the definition of the adjective brackish given by the RAE, it is water with salt. However, in the field of water treatment, it is usually applied to saltwater that does not come from the sea.
BWRO: Reverse Osmosis Water Desalination
EDI - electrodialysis: Technology that combines electrodialysis and ion exchange, which results in a process that removes ions from water effectively while ion exchange resins are continuously regenerated by an electric current.
Effluent: the output or outflows from any system that discharges water flows as a result of urban, industrial, or agricultural activities.
Membrane flux: related to the amount of water that reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, or ultrafiltration membrane produces per active area of the membrane.
Membrane recovery: it is the recovery of reverse osmosis membranes at the end of their useful life, which reduces the impact associated with treatment plant waste and its implementation costs.
Microfiltration: membrane filtration process in which hydrostatic pressure pushes a liquid towards a semi-permeable membrane. Microfiltration membranes have a pore size of 0.1-10 µm.
Osmosis: is a physical phenomenon related to the movement of a solvent through a semi-permeable membrane. Such action implies a simple diffusion across the membrane without energy consumption. Water osmosis is an important biological phenomenon for the cellular metabolism of living beings.
Osmotized water: water produced from the Reverse Osmosis process which is of very high purity.
Permeate: related to a liquid: to diffuse through or penetrate something
PPP: Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is a type of contract that can be self-sustaining or co-financed. In this type of association between the State and the private sector, the latter provides public services or executes and runs specific public infrastructure works within a given time frame.
Process Water: water used for multiple purposes, such as cooling systems, boilers, processes, steam production, etc.
Produced Water: is a term used in the oil industry to describe water produced along with oil and gas.
Recycled Water: is the reuse of treated wastewater for beneficial purposes, such as agricultural and landscape irrigation, industrial processes, toilet flushing, and replenishment of a groundwater basin.
Reverse Osmosis: For the Royal Academy of Engineering, this is the process that separates one component from another in a solution through the force applied to a semi-permeable membrane.
RO Membranes: Semi-permeable membranes used in the Reverse Osmosis process to remove ions, molecules and larger particles in drinking water.
Seawater brine: the effluent from a desalination process that results in water with a salt concentration greater than 69 grams per liter.
SWRO: acronym for Seawater Reverse Osmosis Desalination
Ultrafiltration: membrane filtration process, in which hydrostatic pressure pushes a liquid against a semi-permeable membrane. Ultrafiltration separates particles with a size of 0.001-0.1 µm.
Ultrapure Water. The Royal Academy of Engineering defines it as laboratory water that has been filtered and purified by reverse osmosis. The term comes from the patented commercial treatment.
UV disinfection: is the treatment of water with the use of lamps that emit ultraviolet radiation that can eliminate pathogens and produce high-quality water.
Water bodies: according to the European Environment Agency Water Glossary is any water body that has defined hydrological, physical, chemical, and biological characteristics that is useful for one or more purposes.
Water purification: The RAE states that purification is the action of making water potable (i.e., suitable for human consumption and not representing a health risk). It refers specifically to water for human consumption for drinking, and it can be done with water extracted from different sweet and brackish sources and even from effluent treatment.
Water Stress: Different international organizations define it and make it part of their goals. The European Environment Agency, through the Water Information System for Europe (WISE), states that Water Stress occurs when the water demand exceeds the amount available during a given period or when poor quality limits its use. Water stress causes the deterioration of freshwater resources in both quantity (overexploitation of aquifers, dry rivers, etc.) and quality (eutrophication, organic matter contamination, saline intrusion, etc.).
ALADYR is an institution focused on the dissemination and promotion of technologies and projects for Desalination and Treatment of Water and Effluents for Reuse and Consumption. Therefore, we provide this definition of terms to the community to standardize concepts among stakeholders such as media, educational institutions, companies, organizations, and government agencies.
If you would like to add any terms to our glossary or correct any mistakes in the terms here, please contact us.
Having clarified the terms that are inherent to the association acronym, we proceed with those that are part of the common vocabulary among our partners and members to describe processes, contexts, and situations of the water world.
- Climate Change or Global Warming: the UN and the IDB refer to droughts as effects of Climate Change. Although people tend to use Global Warming as a synonym, it is inaccurate since Climate Change refers to prolonged variations in measures of climate, while Global Warming refers to the rising temperatures due to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, as stated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Thus, Global Warming is only one aspect of Climate Change. ALADYR refers to Climate Change since its more accurate.
- Sustainable Water Management: It is common to hear that ALADYR promotes sustainable management integrating technology alternatives for desalination or water and effluent treatment. The RAE defines sustainability as the adjective to describe something that can be maintained for a long time, without depleting resources or causing severe damage to the environment. For ALADYR, Sustainable Water Management means meeting the water needs of a particular population or economic sector in terms of quality, continuity, and quantity. And also, without compromising the water bodies’ regeneration capacity so that future generations can access it.
- Water Security: The Global Water Partnership (GWP) defines Water Security as the reliable provision of water in acceptable quantity and quality for health, production of goods and services, and livelihoods, together with a tolerable level of water-related risk. Therefore, the correct use of the phrase would be: "It is necessary to implement the reuse of effluents to ensure water security in the region."