title: Intermittent operation of low pressure UF membranes for sewage reuse at household level.
abstract: A household-scale wastewater treatment system was operated with domestic sewage. The system could recover gardening/irrigation water from raw sewage or secondary effluent by low pressure ultrafiltration (UF). The UF membranes (surface area = 3.5 m(2), pore size = 0.04 μm) were operated at constant transmembrane pressure (0.13 bar). The proposed technology was examined for approximately 2 months without membrane cleaning. Membrane operation was performed periodically (one or two times per week), simulating water usage for gardening irrigation. During raw sewage filtration (chemical oxygen demand (COD) total = 242 ± 71 mg L(-1), COD soluble = 105 ± 51 mg L(-1), suspended solids = 188 ± 58 mg L(-1)), low permeate COD was achieved (52 ± 25 mg L(-1)), whereas nitrogen and phosphorus were recovered in the permeate. The water recovered during 1 h of operation displayed a gradual decrease from 42 to 22 L m(-2)h(-1) during the 50-d time period. For the secondary effluent filtration, the UF module achieved consistently a recovery rate of 39.6 ± 8.0 L m(-2)h(-1), with an average permeate COD of 37 mg L(-1). In this case, the fouling layer (cake layer) was completely reversible after the relaxation period, rendering the process suitable for unattended household applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Vas. Sofias 12, 67100 Xanthi, Greece E-mail: bdiamant@env.duth.gr.
authors.forename: Vasileios I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Diamantis
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anagnostopoulos
authors.forename: Paraschos
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Melidis
authors.forename: Spyridon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ntougias
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aivasidis
mesh_terms: D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D009584:Nitrogen; D010710:Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry; D011312:Pressure; D012722:Sewage; D013997:Time Factors; D014462:Ultrafiltration / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010710:Phosphates; D012722:Sewage; D014867:Water; D009584:Nitrogen