FOULING AND NOM REMOVAL IN MF SYSTEMS WITH MIXED ADSORBENTS

摘要

Microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) have been used in water and wastewater treatment for the removal of colloids and particles and as pretreatments prior to nanofiltration (NF) or reverse osmosis (RO) processes. MF and UF generally achieve little if any removal of soluble contaminants such as pesticides or the natural organic matter (NOM) that serves as the precursor to disinfection by-products (DBPs). To remove those contaminants, the feed water can be amended with coagulants and/or adsorbents, which are then removed by the membrane along with other particulate matter. However, in these cases the added particles can sometimes be severe foulants. This study focused on the removal of NOM from Lake Washington water and the concomitant fouling of a MF membrane pre-coated with combinations of conventional and novel adsorbents.