Effects of salinity build-up on biomass characteristics and trace organic chemical removal: implications on the development of high retention membrane bioreactors.

This study investigated the impact of salinity build-up on the performance of membrane bioreactor (MBR), specifically in terms of the removal and fate of trace organic chemicals (TrOCs), nutrient removal, and biomass characteristics. Stepwise increase of the influent salinity, simulating salinity build-up in high retention MBRs, adversely affected the metabolic activity in the bioreactor, thereby reducing organic and nutrient removal. The removal of hydrophilic TrOCs by MBR decreased due to salinity build-up. By contrast, with the exception of 17α-ethynylestradiol, the removal of all hydrophobic TrOCs was not affected at high salinity. Moreover, salinity build-up had negligible impact on the residual accumulation of TrOCs in the sludge phase except for a few hydrophilic compounds. Additionally, the response of the biomass to salinity stress also dramatically enhanced the release of both soluble microbial products (SMP) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), leading to severe membrane fouling.

[1]  Anthony G Fane,et al.  Impacts of salinity on the performance of high retention membrane bioreactors for water reclamation: A review. , 2010, Water research.

[2]  Awwa,et al.  Standard Methods for the examination of water and wastewater , 1999 .

[3]  P. Bishop,et al.  Comparison of extraction methods for quantifying extracellular polymers in biofilms , 1999 .

[4]  Amy E. Childress,et al.  The forward osmosis membrane bioreactor: A low fouling alternative to MBR processes , 2009 .

[5]  Stuart J. Khan,et al.  Effect of mixed liquor pH on the removal of trace organic contaminants in a membrane bioreactor. , 2010, Bioresource technology.

[6]  Simon Judd,et al.  Effect of high salinity on activated sludge characteristics and membrane permeability in an immersed membrane bioreactor , 2006 .

[7]  M Torrijos,et al.  Halophilic biological treatment of tannery soak liquor in a sequencing batch reactor. , 2005, Water research.

[8]  Long D Nghiem,et al.  Removal of trace organics by MBR treatment: the role of molecular properties. , 2011, Water research.

[9]  Wenshan Guo,et al.  The fate of pharmaceuticals, steroid hormones, phytoestrogens, UV-filters and pesticides during MBR treatment. , 2013, Bioresource technology.

[10]  Alain Grasmick,et al.  Effect of salt concentration on membrane bioreactor (MBR) performances: Detailed organic characterization , 2013 .

[11]  H. Ngo,et al.  Insight into metabolic and cometabolic activities of autotrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms in the biodegradation of emerging trace organic contaminants. , 2013, Bioresource technology.

[12]  J. Impe,et al.  Activated sludge characteristics affecting sludge filterability in municipal and industrial MBRs: Un , 2011 .

[13]  Stuart J. Khan,et al.  Effects of salinity on the removal of trace organic contaminants by membrane bioreactor treatment for water reuse , 2013 .

[14]  Jinguo Kang,et al.  Removal of trace organic contaminants by a membrane bioreactor-granular activated carbon (MBR-GAC) system. , 2012, Bioresource technology.

[15]  K N Yogalakshmi,et al.  Effect of transient sodium chloride shock loads on the performance of submerged membrane bioreactor. , 2010, Bioresource technology.

[16]  Jae-Hoon Choi,et al.  Comparison of sludge characteristics and PCR-DGGE based microbial diversity of nanofiltration and microfiltration membrane bioreactors. , 2007, Chemosphere.

[17]  Wenshan Guo,et al.  High retention membrane bioreactors: challenges and opportunities. , 2014, Bioresource technology.

[18]  Faisal I. Hai,et al.  Membrane biological reactors : theory, modeling, design, management and applications to wastewater reuse , 2013 .

[19]  Zhiwei Wang,et al.  Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) properties and their effects on membrane fouling in a submerged membrane bioreactor. , 2009, Water research.

[20]  Chuandao Liu,et al.  Deciphering the effect of salinity on the performance of submerged membrane bioreactor for aquaculture of bacterial community , 2013 .

[21]  H J Lubberding,et al.  Long term effects of salt on activity, population structure and floc characteristics in enriched bacterial cultures of nitrifiers. , 2006, Water research.

[22]  Thorsten Reemtsma,et al.  Membrane bioreactors for municipal wastewater treatment - a viable option to reduce the amount of polar pollutants discharged into surface waters? , 2008, Water research.

[23]  H. Ngo,et al.  A review on the occurrence of micropollutants in the aquatic environment and their fate and removal during wastewater treatment. , 2014, The Science of the total environment.

[24]  Lanhe Zhang,et al.  Performance enhancement and fouling mitigation by organic flocculant addition in membrane bioreactor at high salt shock. , 2014, Bioresource technology.

[25]  A. Uygur.  Specific nutrient removal rates in saline wastewater treatment using sequencing batch reactor , 2006 .

[26]  M. Elimelech,et al.  The Future of Seawater Desalination: Energy, Technology, and the Environment , 2011, Science.

[27]  Taro Urase,et al.  Factors affecting removal of pharmaceutical substances and estrogens in membrane separation bioreactors , 2005 .

[28]  B. Rittmann,et al.  A unified theory for extracellular polymeric substances, soluble microbial products, and active and inert biomass. , 2002, Water research.

[29]  L. Nghiem,et al.  Removal of trace organic contaminants by submerged membrane bioreactors , 2009 .

[30]  Anthony G. Fane,et al.  A novel membrane bioreactor based on membrane distillation , 2008 .

[31]  Long D. Nghiem,et al.  Removal of micropollutants by membrane bioreactor under temperature variation , 2011 .

[32]  V. Jegatheesan,et al.  Biodegradation of pentachlorophenol in a membrane bioreactor , 2005 .

[33]  John N. Lester,et al.  Microbiology and chemistry for environmental scientists and engineers , 1999 .

[34]  Stuart J Khan,et al.  Sorption of emerging trace organic compounds onto wastewater sludge solids. , 2011, Water research.

[35]  A. E. Greenberg,et al.  Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater : supplement to the sixteenth edition , 1988 .

[36]  Jae-Hoon Choi,et al.  A novel application of a submerged nanofiltration membrane bioreactor (NF MBR) for wastewater treatment , 2002 .