Less pressure contributes to gravity-driven membrane ultrafiltration with greater performance: Enhanced driving...

Gravity-driven membrane (GDM) systems have been well developed previously; however, impacts of driving (i.e., transmembrane) pressure on their performance received little attention, which may influence GDM performance. In this study, we evaluated 4 GDM systems via altering the transmembrane pressure from 50 mbar to 150 mbar with 2 groups, treating surface water in Beijing, China. Results showed that less driving pressure was more favorable. Specifically, compared to groups (150 mbar), groups under a pressure of 50 mbar were found to have greater normalized permeability and lower total resistance. During the whole operation period, the quality of effluents was gradually improved. For example, the removal efficiency of UV₂₅₄ was significantly improved; particularly, under low driving pressure, the removal efficiency of UV₂₅₄ in PES GDM system increased by 11.91%, as compared to the corresponding system under high driving pressure. This observation was consistent with the reduction on disinfection by-products (DBPs) formation potential; groups under 50 mbar achieved better DBPs potential control, indicating the advantages of lower driving pressure. Biofilms were analyzed and responsible for these differences, and distinct distributions of bacteria communities of two GDM systems under 50 and 150 mbar may be responsible for various humic-like substances removal efficiency. Overall, GDM systems under less pressure should be considered and expected to provide suggestions on the design of GDM systems in real applications.