Membrane Processes versus Conventional Treatment

The optimum coagulation conditions (i.e. pH) were found to be the same as in conventional treatment for removal, but optimal flux in membrane treatment requires further optimisation. Vickers et al (1995) 

Vickers et al. (1997) found that MF with coagulation pretreatment produced ver similar results to conventional treatment with respect to DBF precursor removal. The advantage of MF was the simultaneous removal of Cryptosporidium and Giardia. Crossflow MF was found to be the superior technology to coagulation and filtration for a remote area water supply, and colour and turbidity were removed perfectly (Holland and Nash (1995)). 

A life cycle assessment study, carried out by Sombekke et al. (1997), compared conventional filtration and GAC with NF. The NF performed better in health and quality aspects and worse in environmental impact, due to concentrate treatment and energy requirements. NF could outperform conventional treatment if green energy could be used. 

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