最近关于砷致癌性的流行病学研究引起了人们对饮用水中砷含量的关注。因此，美国环境保护署（US Environment Protection Agency）目前正在考虑将饮用水中砷的当前最大污染物水平（MCL）从50 ug/L降至20至0.5 ug/L之间。如果采用更严格的标准，将需要对饮用水进行除砷处理。因此，必须评估现有脱砷技术的有效性。适用于除砷的技术包括强化混凝和膜工艺，如反渗透（RO）和纳滤（NF）。 本文研究了合成水和源水中化学成分和操作条件对膜法除砷的影响。合成水由砷和一种或多种有机溶质中的一氧化碳组成。科罗拉多河水（CRW）和南加州大都会水区提供的州项目用水（SPW）被用作代表性水源。

Recent epidemiological studies on the carcinogenicity of arsenic have raised concern over the levels of arsenic in drinking water. As a result, the US Environmental Protection Agency is now considering a decrease in the current maximum contaminant level (MCL) for arsenic in drinking water from 50 ug/L to a level between 20 and 0.5 ug/L. Treatment of drinking water for arsenic removal will be required should a more stringent standard be adopted. Hence, it is imperative that the effectiveness of available technologies for arsenic removal be assessed. Among the technologies applicable to arsenic removal are enhanced coagulation and membrane processes such as reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF). This paper investigates the effects of chemical composition and operating conditions on arsenic removal by membrane processes in both synthetic waters and source waters. Synthetic waters consist of arsenic and one or more co-occurring in organic solutes. Colorado River water (CRW) and State Project water (SPW) supplied by Metropolitan Water District of Southern California are used as representative source waters.