Fouling of low-pressure membranes during drinking water treatment: effect of NOM components and biofiltration pretreatment

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Rahman ◽  
S. Ndiongue ◽  
X. Jin ◽  
M. I. Van Dyke ◽  
W. B. Anderson ◽  
...  

Fouling is a major challenge for low-pressure membrane drinking water treatment systems. Previous research has demonstrated that under the right conditions, biofiltration is an effective method to reduce fouling of low-pressure polymeric membranes. This study provides additional insight into the effect of biofiltration as a pretreatment for fouling reduction by using river water with different raw water quality characteristics than has been examined in previous studies. Two parallel pilot-scale dual media (sand/anthracite) biological filters were operated continuously over a period of 14 months. Liquid chromatography–organic carbon detection analysis confirmed that the parallel biofilters performed similarly with both averaging on 21% biopolymer removal. Raw and treated water biopolymer concentrations were correlated, with increased absolute removals occurring at higher raw water concentrations. Ultrafiltration (UF) membrane fouling experiments showed substantial improvement in performance following biofiltration pretreatment by reducing hydraulically irreversible and reversible fouling rates by 14–68% and 8–55%, respectively. The results also reaffirm the importance of biopolymers at concentrations as low as ∼0.1 mg/L on irreversible and reversible UF membrane fouling and a minimal impact of humic substances.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 2993-3023
Author(s):  
Tyler A. Malkoske ◽  
Pierre R. Bérubé ◽  
Robert C. Andrews

Coagulation/flocculation has been grouped into three typical configurations and the impact of each examined in terms of floc properties and membrane fouling.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Huck ◽  
S. Peldszus ◽  
C. Hallé ◽  
H. Ruiz ◽  
X. Jin ◽  
...  

Fouling remains one of the major constraints on the use of low pressure membranes in drinking water treatment. Work over the last few years has shown the importance of biopolymers (carbohydrates and protein-like material) as foulants for ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. The purpose of this study was to investigate at pilot scale the use of rapid biofiltration (without prior coagulation or ozone addition) as an innovative pretreatment to reduce fouling of UF membranes. The investigation was carried out on a water with a higher than average DOC and significant temperature variation. The biofilters, each operated at a hydraulic loading of 5 m/h, had empty bed contact times of 5, 10 and 15 minutes. The membrane unit was operated at a flux equivalent to 60 LMH at 20°C. The investigation confirmed the encouraging results obtained in an earlier smaller scale study with essentially the same water. Increased biofiltration contact time (i.e. increased bed depth) led to lower rates of hydraulically irreversible fouling. The initial biofiltration backwash procedure, involving air scour as is common in chemically assisted filtration, led in some cases to an increased rate of membrane fouling immediately after the backwash. An alternative backwashing strategy was developed, however the feasibility of operating with this approach over very long periods of time needs to be confirmed. To assist in full-scale implementation of this “green” and simple pretreatment, the design and operating conditions for the biofilters should be optimized for various types of waters. It is expected that biofiltration pretreatment will be of particular interest for small and/or isolated systems where a higher initial capital cost may be acceptable because of operational simplicity and reduced chemical requirements.


2009 ◽  
Vol 59 (8) ◽  
pp. 1531-1540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wido Schmidt ◽  
Heike Petzoldt ◽  
Katrin Bornmann ◽  
Lutz Imhof ◽  
Christian Moldaenke

The indicator function of the fluorescence signals of the cyanopigments phycocyanin and phycoerythrin as early warning parameters against the microcystins in drinking water was investigated by lab- and pilot-scale studies. The early warning function of the fluorescence signals was examined with regard to the signals' real-time character, their sensitivity and the behaviour of the cyanopigments in different treatment stages in comparison to microcystins. Fluorescence measurements confirmed the real-time character, since they can be carried out on-site without the pre-concentration of pigments. The limit of detection of phycoerythrin is determined at 0.7 μg/L and of phycocyanin at 5.3 μg/L respectively. If the pigment/microcystin ratio is known and calculated to be higher than 1, very low microcystin concentrations can be estimated by the fluorescence signals. The compared behaviour of both pigments and selected microcystins (MC-LR and MC-RR) during water treatment shows that pigments have an early warning function against microcystins in conventional treatment stages using pre-oxidation with permanganate, powdered-activated carbon and chlorination. In contrast, cyanopigments do not have an early warning function if chlorine dioxide is used as a pre-oxidant or final disinfection agent. In order to use pigment control measurements in drinking water treatment the initial pigment/toxin ratio of the raw water must be known.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (01) ◽  
pp. 512-524
Author(s):  
Konan Lopez Kouame ◽  
◽  
Nogbou Emmanuel Assidjo ◽  
Andre Kone Ariban ◽  
◽  
...  

This article presents an optimization of the drinking water treatment process at the SUCRIVOIRE treatment station. The objective is to optimize the coagulation and flocculation process (fundamental process of the treatment of said plant)by determining the optimal dosages of the products injected and then proposes a program for calculating the optimal dose of coagulant in order to automatically determine the optimal dose of the latter according to the raw water quality. This contribution has the advantage of saving the user from any calculations the latter simply enters the characteristics of the raw effluent using the physical interface of the program in order to obtain the optimum corresponding coagulant concentration. For the determination of the optimal coagulant doses, we performed Jar-Test flocculation tests in the laboratory over a period of three months. The results made it possible to set up a polynomial regression model of the optimal dose of alumina sulfate as a function of the raw water parameters. A program for calculating the optimal dose of coagulant was carried out on Visual Basic. The optimal doses of coagulant obtained vary from 25, 35, 40 and 45 mg/l depending on the characteristics of the raw effluent. The model obtained is: . Finally, verification tests were carried out using this model on the process. The results obtained meet the WHO drinkability standards for all parameters for a settling time of two hours.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-163
Author(s):  
Jader Martínez Girón ◽  
Jenny Vanessa Marín-Rivera ◽  
Mauricio Quintero-Angel

Population growth and urbanization pose a greater pressure for the treatment of drinking water. Additionally, different treatment units, such as decanters and filters, accumulate high concentrations of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn), which in many cases can be discharged into the environment without any treatment when maintenance is performed. Therefore, this paper evaluates the effectiveness of vertical subsurface wetlands for Fe and Mn removal from wastewater in drinking water treatment plants, taking a pilot scale wetland with an ascending gravel bed with two types of plants: C. esculenta and P. australis in El Hormiguero (Cali, Colombia), as an example. The pilot system had three upstream vertical wetlands, two of them planted and the third one without a plant used as a control. The wetlands were arranged in parallel and each formed by three gravel beds of different diameter. The results showed no significant difference for the percentage of removal in the three wetlands for turbidity (98 %), Fe (90 %), dissolved Fe (97 %) and Mn (98 %). The dissolved oxygen presented a significant difference between the planted wetlands and the control. C. esculenta had the highest concentration of Fe in the root with (103.5 ± 20.8) µg/g ; while P. australis had the highest average of Fe concentrations in leaves and stem with (45.7 ± 24) µg/g and (41.4 ± 9.1) µg/g, respectively. It is concluded that subsurface wetlands can be an interesting alternative for wastewater treatment in the maintenance of drinking water treatment plants. However, more research is needed for the use of vegetation or some technologies for the removal or reduction of the pollutant load in wetlands, since each drinking water treatment plant will require a treatment system for wastewater, which in turn requires a wastewater treatment system as well.


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