Reverse osmosis membranes are intended to constitute a complete physical barrier against nanometric-sized pathogens such as enteric viruses. Literature describes that low-pressure reverse osmosis achieves high viral removal rates (above 5 log), surpassing those of ultrafiltration (1 to 3 log). However, these studies often used individual viruses and high feed viral concentrations (above 10 virus L), greater than typical viral concentrations present in the environment like groundwater, to promote virus detection in the permeate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStabilized landfill leachates are characterized by a high chemical oxygen demand and limited biodegradability. This study investigates the removal of the organic fraction (chemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon) using a treatment approach that couples membrane processes and wet air oxidation (operating at 200-300 °C and 18 MPa). The aim is to address the challenges posed by landfill leachate membrane concentrates considering variations throughout the year across three different seasons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman enteric viruses are important etiological agents of waterborne diseases. Environmental waters are usually contaminated with low virus concentration requiring large concentration factors for effective detection by (RT)-qPCR. Low-pressure reverse osmosis is often used to remove water contaminants, but very few studies focused on the effective virus removal of reverse osmosis treatment with feed concentrations as close as possible to environmental concentrations and principally relied on theoretical virus removal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo improve membrane fouling management, the NaClO-assisted backwash has been developed to improve permeability maintenance and reduce the need for intensive chemical cleanings. This study is aimed to focus on the efficiency of NaClO-assisted backwash in real UF pilot scale and with periodic classic backwash (CB) and air backwash (AB). The impacts on hydraulic filtration performance, physicochemical properties of membrane material under different addition frequencies of NaClO, and the performance of chlorinated CB and AB will be discussed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWastewater reuse as a sustainable, reliable and energy recovery concept is a promising approach to alleviate worldwide water scarcity. However, the water reuse market needs to be developed with long-term efforts because only less than 4% of the total wastewater worldwide has been treated for water reuse at present. In addition, the reclaimed water should fulfill the criteria of health safety, appearance, environmental acceptance and economic feasibility based on their local water reuse guidelines.
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