Evaluation of MBR treated industrial wastewater quality before and after desalination by NF and RO processes for agricultural reuse

Abstract

In this study, the quality evaluation of membrane bioreactor (MBR) treated wastewater was performed for its reuse in irrigation. In addition, the qualities of MBR effluents desalinated with nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) processes were compared with the irrigation standards. MBR effluent was not found as appropriate water for irrigation because of its high salinity. According to water quality measurements (especially SAR and EC values) it was considered that NF and RO permeates could decrease the soil permeability if they are used directly for irrigation. According to the results of SAR-EC analyses, the mixture of MBR effluent with RO permeate at a volume ratio of 2:1 (MBR effluent:RO permeate) was found to be suitable for irrigation to suppress the harmful effects of MBR permeate such as salinity. Using such mixture could also ameliorate adverse effects of RO permeate in terms of infiltration.