Improved purification of water and waste-water with low-cost dead-end-ultrafiltration

One aspect of the increasing contamination of water sources is sewage effluent. In some countries it is generally disinfected prior to discharge to protect downstream communities, which use the water for drinking and recreation. However, serious questions have been raised regarding the efficacy of conventional treatments to remove or destroy viruses, and regarding the generation of harmful byproducts by sewage chlorination. A safe and reliable solution is the use of ultrafiltration for the purification of wastewater, as the ultrafiltration membranes form an absolute barrier for bacteria and viruses including colloids and macromolecules. However, this application also demands the use of open channel module systems that can be cleaned with high efficiency with regard to scaling, fouling and especially biofouling. The flat membrane module systems using selected membranes and a special plant design can meet these and further requirements expected in this application, including easy handling, low energy consumption and optimised operation costs. Technical details of the module system, case studies and cost aspects are presented.