Quality Assurance for Reverse Osmosis / Nanofiltration Membrane Elements
1. Three-Year Quality Warranty for Membrane Elements
After Fujian huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the “Seller”) sells spiral-wound reverse osmosis/nanofiltration membrane elements to the Buyer, provided that the installation, operation, and maintenance of huamembrane environmental protection products comply with the design and operating conditions recommended by the Seller, the Seller provides the following three-year limited warranty covering the materials, workmanship, and performance of huamembrane environmental protection products.
1.1 Limited Warranty on Materials and Workmanship
huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. warrants that the reverse osmosis/nanofiltration membrane elements manufactured and sold by the company are free from defects in materials and workmanship.
Provided that the Buyer properly uses and maintains the membrane elements in accordance with the technical documentation supplied by huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd., huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. shall provide a warranty against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of twelve (12) months from the date on which the products are delivered to the carrier at the place of shipment.
If inspection by huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. in accordance with these terms confirms that a defect exists, huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. shall, at its discretion, repair or replace the defective product free of charge.
1.2 Performance During the Three-Year Limited Warranty Period
Under the test conditions specified in the product datasheet, a new membrane product shall meet the initial performance specified in the applicable product datasheet.
huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. warrants the performance of the membrane elements for three years. The three-year warranty period shall commence on the date the membrane system is put into operation or six months after the membrane elements are shipped, whichever occurs first.
During this period, huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. provides the following warranties:
(1) Initial Performance
The Seller warrants that huamembrane environmental protection products will meet the minimum permeate flow rate and maximum salt passage rate specified in the applicable huamembrane reverse osmosis/nanofiltration membrane element specifications when tested under the standard test conditions specified by the Seller.
If a huamembrane environmental protection product fails to meet the specified initial performance, the Buyer shall promptly notify the Seller of the relevant defect. After confirming the performance defect, the Seller shall repair the product or refund the cost of the defective huamembrane environmental protection product. Shipping costs shall also be borne by the Seller.
(2) Performance During the Three-Year Limited Warranty Period
- When used or tested under the test conditions specified in huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd.’s General Technical Conditions for Products, the salt passage rate shall not exceed twice the minimum value specified in the General Technical Conditions for Products.
- When used or tested under the test conditions specified in huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd.’s General Technical Conditions for Products, the average permeate flow shall not be less than 70% of the minimum value specified in the General Technical Conditions for Products.
(3) huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. shall have no obligation to fulfill the above three-year limited warranty if the Buyer fails to satisfy any of the following conditions:
- Membrane element feedwater turbidity shall be ≤1.0 NTU, SDI15 shall be <5, and feedwater temperature shall be <45°C.
- The feedwater supplied to the membrane elements shall not contain harmful substances that may cause physical or chemical damage to the membrane elements.
- Before installation or use, membrane elements shall be stored in their original vacuum-sealed packaging. Dry membrane elements shall be stored at temperatures ≤45°C; wet membrane elements shall be stored at temperatures between 0°C and 45°C.
- During normal operation, the feedwater pH range for membrane elements shall be 3–10. During cleaning, the feedwater pH range for membrane elements shall be 2–12.
- The feedwater supplied to the membrane elements shall not contain oxidizing substances such as chlorine, potassium permanganate, hypochlorite ions, or similar oxidants.
- The maximum operating pressure of the membrane elements shall not exceed 600 psi.
- Under no circumstances shall backpressure on the membrane elements exceed 5 psi. Water hammer impacting the membrane elements shall also be avoided during system operation.
- If system performance under standard conditions decreases by 10%, or if membrane fouling or scaling occurs, the membrane elements shall be cleaned promptly in accordance with the prescribed procedures.
- The arrangement of membrane elements, instrumentation configuration, recovery rate, and other system configuration and design parameters shall comply with sound engineering design practices.
- The Seller shall provide users with appropriate system operation and maintenance manuals and shall provide relevant training to operating and management personnel to ensure that users have the capability to perform system cleaning, restore system performance, and diagnose system faults.
- The user must regularly and systematically record standardized performance data for the entire system and its subsystems. Such data must be accurate, complete, and continuous and shall be properly archived for future reference. When a claim is submitted to huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. under the warranty terms, these records shall serve as the basis for huamembrane Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. to fulfill its performance warranty obligations.
Membrane Element Repair, Return and Replacement Procedure
If a customer needs to initiate the repair, return, or replacement procedure for reverse osmosis membrane elements, the following procedures specified by huamembrane shall be followed:
✓ Membrane Element Repair Procedure
Before returning a membrane element for repair, the customer must contact the regional sales manager of huamembrane and obtain approval from the regional sales manager.
Inspection related to repair, return, or replacement may be performed in either of the following two ways: huamembrane technical personnel may visit the customer’s site to conduct the inspection, or the customer may send the membrane elements back to huamembrane for inspection.
1. If huamembrane technical personnel conduct an on-site inspection:
(1) If the inspection confirms that the problem occurred within the warranty period and was caused by defects in huamembrane membrane materials or manufacturing processes, huamembrane shall bear all inspection costs. The customer shall be entitled to receive replacement membrane elements that comply with the applicable technical standards, and shipping costs shall be borne by huamembrane.
(2) If the inspection determines that a problem occurring within the warranty period was not caused by huamembrane membrane materials or manufacturing processes, the customer shall bear all inspection costs, membrane element replacement costs, and shipping costs.
(3) For membrane elements that are outside the warranty period, the customer shall bear all inspection costs, membrane element replacement costs, and shipping costs.
2. If the customer sends the membrane elements back to huamembrane:
(1) The customer shall complete the Membrane Element Repair/Return/Replacement Registration Form and return the completed form to the huamembrane regional sales manager by email, fax, or other appropriate means. After confirmation by the regional sales manager, the customer will be notified in writing to return the membrane elements.
(2) When returning the membrane elements, the customer shall also provide the following information:
- Membrane element model, serial number, and purchase contract number;
- A detailed description of the product failure;
- All data reflecting the performance of the returned membrane element, including rejection rate, temperature, pressure, feedwater salt concentration, product water/permeate flow rate, etc.
✓ Packaging and Transportation
① Before transportation, the customer shall protect and store different models of membrane elements in accordance with the applicable provisions of huamembrane technical bulletins.
② During transportation, membrane elements shall be placed in sealed plastic bags and packed in cartons to prevent mechanical damage. Appropriate protection against moisture and direct sunlight shall also be provided.
③ After receiving the repair/return authorization from huamembrane, the customer shall ship the membrane elements as soon as possible to prevent changes in membrane performance caused by prolonged storage.
✓ Inspection Procedure
① If technical inspection of the returned membrane elements requires destructive testing, the huamembrane regional sales manager shall contact the customer and obtain the customer’s authorization before conducting any destructive testing.
② For membrane elements within the warranty period, if the test results demonstrate that the problem was not caused by membrane materials or the manufacturing process, the customer shall bear all inspection costs and shall not be entitled to compensation from huamembrane. huamembrane shall dispose of the membrane elements according to the customer’s instructions or return them to the customer at the customer’s expense.
③ If the test results demonstrate that the membrane elements do have defects in materials or manufacturing processes, huamembrane shall bear the inspection costs. The customer shall also be entitled to receive replacement membrane elements that comply with the applicable technical standards, and shipping costs shall be borne by huamembrane.
④ For membrane elements outside the warranty period, the customer shall bear all inspection costs, membrane element replacement costs, and shipping costs.
✓ Supplementary Provisions
① If huamembrane does not receive the membrane elements within the specified period, the company will notify the customer that the repair/return procedure has been terminated. The specified period is within 30 days after the customer receives the Membrane Element Repair/Return/Replacement Registration Form signed and approved by the regional sales manager.
② The warranty shall become invalid if any of the following circumstances occurs:
- The membrane element does not bear a huamembrane product serial number;
- The membrane element shows visible evidence of significant water-quality contamination during use;
- The membrane element shows visible evidence of mechanical damage caused during use;
- The membrane element has been damaged due to improper storage or transportation;
- The membrane element has been modified without authorization from huamembrane.