I'm sure that's right - nothing technological is ever that simple. But what about this statement from BWS, taken from the SPSun article:-

BWS has been informed by CWBL that they have not been able to run the plant at normal capacity as they have been experiencing unusual matter clogging the filter membranes of the plant. CWBL further informed that they have not been able to clean membranes of this matter and that they have rapidly used up all their available spare membranes and have had to order additional membranes

Are we to understand that these membranes normally don't require replacement and aren't regarded as "consumables", but that something unusual and unpredictable is happening? If so, then that is indeed serious. If the existing membranes have clogged, so presumably will the replacement ones and we may be faced with this problem for a long time to come. Either that or something is wrong with the technology.