Integrated coagulation–ultrafiltration for enhanced removals of phosphate and organic in tertiary treatment

Abstract We have demonstrated an integrated coagulation–ultrafiltration (UF) process for enhanced removals of phosphate and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in tertiary treatment. A lab scale system with hollow fiber UF membranes was used in the study. Dead-end operation was applied in the study since its advantages of low energy consumption and high water recovery over cross-flow operation. The results showed that removals of phosphate and DOC at alum dosage of 10 mg l−1 in the study were >99% (or phosphate <0.03 mg l−1 in product) and 25%, respectively. The coagulation time in the new integrated coagulation-UF process was reduced to 1 min with much less foot-print. The concentration of alum dose could be further optimized between 5 and 10 mg l−1.

[1]  Hee-Deung Park,et al.  Evaluation of a low-pressure membrane filtration for drinking water treatment: pretreatment by coagulation/sedimentation for the MF membrane , 2009 .

[2]  Frans Knops,et al.  Impact of coagulation pH on enhanced removal of natural organic matter in treatment of reservoir water , 2006 .

[3]  K. Farahbakhsh,et al.  Optimization of phosphorus removal in secondary effluent using immersed ultrafiltration membranes with in-line coagulant pretreatment — implications for advanced water treatment and reuse applicationsA paper submitted to the Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science. , 2009 .

[4]  S. Vigneswaran,et al.  In‐line Flocculation‐Submersed MF/UF Membrane Hybrid System in Tertiary Wastewater Treatment , 2008 .

[5]  H. Sontheimer.  Flocculation in Water Treatment , 1978 .

[6]  Characterization of fouling in immersed polyvinylidene fluoride hollow fibre membrane ultrafiltration by particles and natural organic matter , 2010 .

[7]  K. Farahbakhsh,et al.  The impact of in-line coagulant addition on fouling potential of secondary effluent at a pilot-scale immersed ultrafiltration plant , 2008 .

[8]  J. Rouch,et al.  Impact of coagulation conditions on the in-line coagulation/UF process for drinking water production☆ , 2002 .

[9]  D. Lee,et al.  The effects of coagulation with MF/UF membrane filtration in drinking water treatment , 2010 .

[10]  G. Amy,et al.  Optimizing inline coagulation to reduce chemical consumption in MF/UF systems , 2009 .