Comparison of the treatment performance of a hybrid and conventional membrane bioreactor for greywater reclamation

Abstract

With each passing year, the global push toward sustainable development continues to challenge and motivate the wastewater industry. In this research, the treatment performance of a relatively novel biological treatment system, a hybrid membrane bioreactor (HMBR), was compared to a conventional membrane bioreactor (MBR) for the reclamation of domestic greywater. The results indicated that the HMBR was able to achieve removal efficiencies equal to or greater than the MBR, which was operated simultaneously for comparison. Each bioreactor was maintained at an equivalent total biomass concentration throughout experimentation. The average removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, ammonia, and total phosphorus were 91%, 97%, 66%, 74%, 93%, and 90% with the HMBR, and 91%, 97%, 58%, 71%, 88%, and 90% with the MBR, respectively. These improvements were attributed to the presence of biofilms within the HMBR, which enhanced simultaneous nitrification and denitrification processes. The HMBR was determined to be the better choice for greywater reclamation, with a treatment performance exceeding that of a conventional MBR.