Membranes Role for Wastewater Treatment and Water Reuse

Membranes, which provide a number of significant benefits, have become cost-effective for many water, wastewater, and desalination treatment applications. They are rapidly replacing conventional and traditional processes, providing benefits for new construction, upgrades, and retrofits of existing facilities. Every type of conventional water, wastewater, desalination, and water reuse treatment has a membrane alternative. Membranes have become a commodity in water treatment, as more and more applications are found to replace conventional technologies. When used in combination with different technologies, membranes may address removal of mineral and organic compounds in the water, including volatile-type compounds such as the 42 endocrine disruptors (EDCs) found in the U.S.A., pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), and personal care products (PCPs). Membrane treatment offers a number of advantages, including higher effluent water quality, a more compact foot-print, and often times simpler operations as compared to conventional treatment. With the industry’s acceptance of membrane technologies and the rapid growth in the number of operating facilities, the costs of membrane systems are now approaching those of conventional systems. Sooner or later, membranes are likely to be in your future, either for upgrading existing facilities or considered as the preferred choice for new water reuse needs. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings