Effect of membrane properties on the performance of a hybrid GAC and ultrafiltration process for water treatment

Abstract

The performance of a hybrid granular activated carbon (GAC) and ultrafiltration (UF) process for water treatment was investigated using five types of UF membranes. The removal percentages for chemical oxygen demand (COD_Mn), particles (≥2 μm) and total bacteria by the hybrid process were 30–40%, 98–99% and 76–92%, respectively. No invertebrates were detected in the hybrid process effluent. Transmembrane pressure and specific permeate flux (SPF) of the five types of membranes varied. With decreasing membrane pore sizes, removal of COD_Mn and particles increased, whereas SPF firstly decreased and then increased. Hydrophilic membranes had a relatively high COD_Mn removal potential, but did not obviously affect particle removal or SPF.

Keywords:

• drinking water
• granular activated carbon
• ultrafiltration
• microbial safety
• membrane properties

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Science and Technology Project ‘Water Pollution Control and Management Technology’ (Grant No. 2008ZX07423-003) of China.