Efficiency of municipal wastewater treatment with membrane bioreactor

Abstract

The increasingly stringent requirements for wastewater treatment enforce the adoption of technologies that reduce pollution and minimize waste production. By combining the typical activated sludge process with membrane filtration, biological membrane reactors (MBR) offer great technological potential in this respect. The paper presents the principles and effectiveness of using an MBR at the Głogów Małopolski operation. Physicochemical tests of raw and treated wastewater as well as microscopic analyses with the use of the FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) method were carried out. Moreover, the level of electric energy consumption during the operation of the wastewater treatment plant and problems related to fouling were also discussed. A wastewater quality analysis confirmed the high efficiency of removing organic impurities (on average 96% in case of BOD5 and 94% in case of COD) and suspension (on average 93%).