Abstract
AbstractMembrane fouling by natural organic matter (NOM) is a major factor limiting the sustainability of microfiltration technologies for potable water treatment as it results in decreased permeate flux, reduced production, more frequent cleaning with associated increased chemical usage, and shorter membrane life. This study investigated the use of vacuum ultraviolet ( V W 254 + 185 nm) photooxidation as a pretreatment strategy to reduce flux loss and membrane foufing in potable water treatment. Raw water was exposed to VUV treatment and microfiltered in a dead‐end stirred cell using 0.22 pm hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes. Considerable flux improvement was obtained with increasing VUV treatment time. However, attempts to clean the fouled membranes by backwashing with Mini‐Q water were not successful, and slightly entrenched the fouling in most instances. Various chemical cleaning regimes for membrane regeneration were tested, both individually and in combination. A I.Owt% solution of the enzymic detergent Terg‐a‐zyme almost completely cleaned the membranes. A cheaper, but slightly less efective, alternative involved the sequence of sodium hydroxide/hydrochloric acidhodium hypochlorite which removed 86% of the fouling resistance.
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