Wastewater treatment by membrane bioreactor as potent and advanced technology

Abstract Nowadays, membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology has been used as an effective approach for wastewater treatment due to its benefits, such as the high quality of treated water and the durability of the system. This technology could be recommended to encourage the reuse of treated wastewater for so many purposes except for drinking water, such as toilet cleaning and irrigation purposes. Interestingly, MBR technologies are able to remove various types of viruses and phages. In addition, MBRs are widely applied in the removal of heavy metals, hydrocarbons, dye molecules in textile industry wastes, dangerous micropollutants such as phenolic compounds, phthalates, and estrogen, rare organic compounds such as surfactants, pharmaceutically active compounds, micropollutants, and hormones. Based on this, the current chapter emphasizes the approach of applying MBR technology for water treatment options and explains the different types of MBR systems, showing the hydrodynamic efficiency of these MBR systems. It will also give an insight into some problems such as dirt and nutrient removal. On application of membranes with conventional biological therapy, it is proved that MBR is a very promising technique and effective in microcontaminant removing compared to other conventional methods undertaken in most wastewater treatment plants. Currently, it is used in treating both municipal and industrial wastewaters. The MBR systems under anaerobic conditions are recently getting much attention as a potential solution of water reuse to secure fresh water for other purposes and a proposed source for renewable energy to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.