RO can produce a concentrate containing 30000 ppm total dissolved solids
(TDS). Two problems with RO are that organics can seriously foul RO systems and that RO requires a feed stream that is free of suspended solids. Because of this it is advisable to remove organics from wastewater before it enters the RO, so extensive front-end filtration equipment is required. Some membranes are pH and temperature sensitive, so pH control and feed equalization may be necessary.
Yes, RO can be adopted when you have TDS of 7000 ppm as a feed. I can cite an example used in treating tannery effluent.
The ZLD system for tanneries comprises the following: proper collection of effluent, primary treatment, secondary treatment, further preparatory treatment for ZLD system,
Reverse Osmosis for reducing effluent quantity for evaporation, reuse of the
recovered RO permeate in tanneries’ process, evaporation of the RO concentrate
in evaporator, reuse of the recovered condensate in tanneries process, recovery of
crystallised salt, recycle of un-crystallised salt for evaporation with RO
concentrate, and storage of the recovered salt in safe impervious covered storage facility. For details you may visit http://www.iwma.in/Guidelines%20on%20ZLD.pdf
Reverse Osmosis for reducing effluent quantity for evaporation, reuse of the
recovered RO permeate in tanneries’ process, evaporation of the RO concentrate
in evaporator, reuse of the recovered condensate in tanneries process, recovery of
crystallised salt, recycle of un-crystallised salt for evaporation with RO
concentrate, and storage of the recovered salt in safe impervious covered storage facility. For details you may visit http://www.iwma.in/Guidelines%20on%20ZLD.pdf