1.0 Introduction
California's current population of 35 million is expected to increase by approximately 12 million by the year 2030, which will impact the state's water demands significantly (Karajeh et al 2005). Agricultural irrigation represents a considerable portion of fresh water demand, with an estimated 65% global water demand and nearly 90% of the water demand in California (Abu- Zeid 1998). This creates a challenge for water supply reliability and availability as technologies shift from the construction of new dams, reservoirs and conveyance canals, and move toward water conservation and reclamation.
As a result, saltwater and brackish water reverse osmosis desalination is becoming of greater interest, largely because technological advances have caused the cost of membranes to decrease dramatically (Karajeh et al 2005). in the same time that desalination costs have been declining, the costs of surface and groundwater have been increasing, making desalination a more competitive source of water for both municipal and agricultural purposes (Beltrán and Koo-Oshima 2004).
A study by Sorour et al (1992) investigated various desalination technologies for agricultural drainage water applications. The study ranked reverse osmosis (RO) desalination as the highest performing desalting technology, when compared to ion exchange, electrodialysis and vapor compression. This high ranking was due to lower desalting costs, higher tolerance to changes in salinity, and ability to remove dissolved organics. Per the results of the study, reverse osmosis desalination became the recommended technology for agricultural drainage desalination (Sorour et al. 1992).
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