Full-scale experience with the membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis water reclamation process

The Gippsland Water Factory (GWF), owned and operated by Gippsland Water in south eastern Australia, is a 35,000 m3/day water reclamation facility which treats 16,000 m3/day of domestic wastewater and 19,000 m3/day of industrial (pulp and paper) wastewater through parallel membrane-bioreactor (MBR)-based treatment trains prior to discharge to the Pacific Ocean via the Regional Outfall Sewer. A portion of the domestic train MBR effluent is further treated through a chloramination and reverse osmosis (RO) system for reclamation, as needed to augment the regional water supply, and is supplied to Australia Paper, the source of the industrial wastewater treated at the GWF. While use of the MBR/RO combination for water reclamation is expected to provide advantages, little full-scale experience exists. Consequently, this paper reports operational and performance results for the first four years of operation for the MBR/RO water reclamation train. Details are provided, not only on process performance, but also on the resolution of equipment and plant performance issues along with ongoing plant optimization. On the basis of these operating results, it is concluded that the combination of MBR and RO is a reliable and robust option for producing high-quality reclaimed water from municipal wastewater.

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Full-Scale Implementation of a Vertical Membrane Bioreactor for Simultaneous Removal of Organic Matter and Nutrients from Municipal Wastewater

Improving Urban Environments ◽

10.1201/b20723-17 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 197-210

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Municipal Wastewater ◽

Full Scale ◽

Simultaneous Removal

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New insight into fate and fouling behavior of bulk Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) in a full-scale membrane bioreactor for domestic wastewater treatment

Journal of Water Process Engineering ◽

10.1016/j.jwpe.2018.01.014 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 ◽

pp. 94-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Céline Jacquin ◽

Noémie Gambier ◽

Geoffroy Lesage ◽

Marc Heran

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Dissolved Organic Matter ◽

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Domestic Wastewater ◽

Full Scale ◽

Domestic Wastewater Treatment ◽

Insight Into

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Fouling characteristics of reverse osmosis membranes at different positions of a full-scale plant for municipal wastewater reclamation

Water Research ◽

10.1016/j.watres.2015.12.028 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 90 ◽

pp. 329-336 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

Fang Tang ◽

Hong-Ying Hu ◽

Li-Juan Sun ◽

Ying-Xue Sun ◽

Na Shi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Municipal Wastewater ◽

Full Scale ◽

Wastewater Reclamation ◽

Fouling Characteristics ◽

Reverse Osmosis Membranes

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Characteristics and fouling behaviors of Dissolved Organic Matter fractions in a full-scale submerged membrane bioreactor for municipal wastewater treatment

Biochemical Engineering Journal ◽

10.1016/j.bej.2017.12.016 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 132 ◽

pp. 169-181 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Céline Jacquin ◽

Benoit Teychene ◽

Laurent Lemee ◽

Geoffroy Lesage ◽

Marc Heran

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Dissolved Organic Matter ◽

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Municipal Wastewater ◽

Full Scale ◽

Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽

Submerged Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Organic Matter Fractions

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Performance of a full-scale ceramic MBR system to treat domestic sewage

Water Practice & Technology ◽

10.2166/wpt.2018.066 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 589-593 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

T. Niwa ◽

R. Yin ◽

M. H. Oo ◽

H. Noguchi ◽

T. Watanabe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Production Capacity ◽

Domestic Sewage ◽

Full Scale ◽

Stable Operation ◽

Water Reclamation ◽

Membrane Systems ◽

Nominal Capacity ◽

Net Flux

Abstract Application of membrane technology for water reclamation has grown significantly in recent years due to reduced footprint size and more consistent product water quality. For a membrane bioreactor (MBR) system, it is critical for it to be robust to allow membrane systems to operate at higher flux without significant increase of trans-membrane pressure (TMP). A full-scale ceramic MBR system was installed at Changi Water Reclamation Plant (CWRP) as part of an MBR retrofit project to increase treatment capacity without expanding the plant's footprint. The nominal capacity of the ceramic MBR system is 15,000 m3/d. The system has been successfully operating since January 2017 with a net flux of 30–60 L/m2-hr (LMH). Stable operation was observed at nominal production capacity for more than 3 months. During that period, the TMP was stable in the range of 9–14 kPa for Tank A and 10–17 kPa for Tank B. Permeate turbidity was recorded in the range of 0.04–0.06 NTU for both Tank A and Tank B.

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Technology feasibility and economic viability of an innovative integrated ceramic membrane bioreactor and reverse osmosis process for producing ultrapure water from municipal wastewater

Chemical Engineering Journal ◽

10.1016/j.cej.2019.122078 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 375 ◽

pp. 122078 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Siyu Wang ◽

Hang Liu ◽

Jun Gu ◽

Huifang Sun ◽

Meng Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Municipal Wastewater ◽

Ceramic Membrane ◽

Economic Viability ◽

Ultrapure Water

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Joint treatment of landfill leachate with municipal wastewater by submerged membrane bioreactor

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2009.748 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 60 (12) ◽

pp. 3121-3127 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Halil Hasar ◽

Ubeyde Ipek ◽

Cumali Kinaci

Keyword(s):

Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Municipal Wastewater ◽

Domestic Wastewater ◽

High Strength ◽

Carbon And Nitrogen ◽

Submerged Membrane Bioreactor ◽

Treatment Processes ◽

Phosphorus Source ◽

Number Of Treatment ◽

Joint Treatment

Young leachate was a high strength wastewater with regard to carbon and nitrogen matter, and up to now many researchers have focused on a number of treatment methods to treat the leachate. By using various treatment processes, joint treatment of leachate with domestic wastewater, resulted from same community, is one of the most significant methods because domestic wastewater has either larger mass or lower strength than leachate. In this study, a submerged membrane bioreactor (sMBR) was used for treatment of blending wastewater, including differential mixture ratios of domestic wastewater and leachate. In raw leachate, BOD5/COD was between 0.40 and 0.67 and total phosphorus was between 17 and 24 mg/l. After the leachate was blended with domestic wastewater in the ratios of 1/5–1/20, the influent COD decreased from 8,500–14,200 mg/l to 750–2,400 mg/l as ammonium decreased from 1,100–2,150 mg/l to 30–180 mg/l. The sMBR, which was aerated intermittently, accomplished both COD oxidation and nutrient removal at optimal conditions without adding the external phosphorus source, providing < 15 mg COD/l, <1.3 mg NH4+-N/l, and <2.0 mg P/l on average at solid retention times (SRT) higher than 10 days. Consequently, the results showed the mixture of leachate and domestic wastewater could be an acceptable alternative by means of membrane bioreactor technology.

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