Water filter-based MBR unit in laundry effluent treatment

An aerobic membrane bioreactor (MBR) system has been equipped with low cost water filter units available in local market and tested as a bench-scale unit in a medium size laundry. The purpose of the study is to verify their potentiality for application in MBR systems as an alternative to polymer membrane modules. The performance of the system is evaluated in terms of flux recovery and COD level of the treated water. Cleaning operation is performed by mechanical rubbing/brushing and backflushing. In each operational cycle, the flux is found to deteriorate gradually due to fouling. Mechanical rubbing/brushing results in partial elimination of the fouling and thus partial recovery of the flux, while backflushing to remove the fouling causes internal damage to the filters. Fouling leads to an improvement in the COD removal. It is concluded that the filter units, if modified, could be used in MBR systems, and success of low cost filter-based MBR system would inspire countries with cheap labor to build wastewater treatment plants with their own capacities.