title: The effect of feed salinity on the biofouling dynamics of seawater desalination.
abstract: A persistent cell labeling dye and a novel microbial counting method were used to explore the effects of salinity on a microbial population in a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system, and these clearly distinguished microbial cell multiplication from cell adherence. The results indicated that microbial multiplication is more active at the front of a seawater RO pressure vessel, while adhesion dominates the back of the vessel. A severe reduction in RO permeate flux and total dissolved solid (TDS) rejection were detected at low salinity, attributed to marked cell multiplication and release of extracellular polymeric substances, whilst a relatively stable flux was observed at medium and high salinity. The results from PCR-DGGE revealed the variation in microbial species distribution on the membrane with salinity. The results imply the critical role of membrane modification in biofouling mitigation in the desalination process.
authors.affiliation: Disaster Prevention and Water Environment Research Center, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hui-Ling
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jill R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Chihpin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Justin Chun-Te
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D057219:Biofouling; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation; D009995:Osmosis; D054712:Salinity; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000032:analysis; D013624:Taiwan; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride