Conventional wastewater treatment methods are well established and widely used, as they provide an effective removal of pollutants. Nevertheless, the evolution of membrane technologies has significantly increased the interest and use of advanced treatment technologies as a means to achieve a higher-quality effluent and address emerging contaminants more effectively. In fact, the use of membrane technologies has allowed the treatment of wastewater for reuse with a significant reduction in the size of equipment, energy requirements, and capital cost.
The application of membranes for wastewater treatment is not a recent development, as the first membrane bioreactors (MBRs) were developed during the ’70s. During the early 2000s, membrane technologies became more integrated into municipal wastewater plants. Today, membrane technology is a key component of advanced wastewater treatment processes and is widely used in both industrial and municipal settings to produce high-quality effluent and meet stringent water quality standards.
Although the water industry has made commendable efforts to improve membrane technology, it is also important to understand the challenges that may arise in some cases when dealing with complex waters.
In addition to operational issues within the facilities, the identification of the foulant that may occur on membranes also provides valuable information to minimize or correct fouling in the most effective way.
In the last 20 years, Genesys-PWT laboratories have autopsied almost 2000 water treatment membranes, including more than 200 wastewater membranes. This paper gathers information on characteristic wastewater membrane foulants, their impact on membrane operation, and other relevant details detected during the study of wastewater membranes.
Nuria Peña García, Javier Rodriguez Gómez, Mike Sinfield, Liuba Dominguez, Fernando del Vigo, Gregory Sato, Amit Shankhe.
You can find the research paper in our Resources Center
