Membrane bioreactors for water reclamation

Singapore has been using dual membrane technology (MF/UF RO) to produce high-grade water (NEWater) from secondary treated sewage. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) has very high potential and will lead to the further improvement of the productivity and quality of high-grade water. This study was focused on the technical feasibility of MBR system for water reclamation in Singapore, making a comparison between various membrane systems available and to get operational experience in terms of membrane cleaning and other issues. Three MBR plants were built at Bedok Water Reclamation Plant with a design flow of 300 m3/day each. They were commissioned in March 2003. Three different types of submerged membranes were tested. They are Membrane A, plate sheet membrane with pore size of 0.4 μm; Membrane B, hollow fibre membrane with pore size of 0.4 μm; and Membrane C, hollow fibre membrane with pore size of 0.035 μm. The permeate quality of all the three MBR Systems were found equivalent to or better than that of the conventional tertiary treatment by ultrafiltration. MBR permeate TOC was about 2 mg/l lower than UF permeate TOC. GC-MS, GC-ECD and HPLC scan results show that trace organic contaminants in MBR permeate and UF permeate were in the same range. MBR power consumption can be less than 1 kwh/m3. Gel layer or dynamic membrane generated on the submerged membrane surface played an important role for the lower MBR permeate TOC than the supernatant TOC in the membrane tank. Intensive chemical cleaning can temporarily remove this layer. During normal operation conditions, the formation of dynamic membrane may need one day to obtain the steady low TOC levels in MBR permeate.