Twelve years after the first full scale municipal application in Europe of membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology, the process is now accepted as a technology of choice for wastewater treatment, and the market is showing sustained growth. However early misconceptions about the technology are persistent and false statements are commonly encountered in articles and conferences, generating unnecessary research efforts or even fuelling either fascination or scepticism with regards to the technology, which is ultimately detrimental to the perception of the process by water professionals. We try to provide some factual and rational clarifications on ten issues which are often wrongly reported about MBR technology.

Following a promising study at pilot scale a new aeration control law has been implemented at a full scale wastewater treatment plant displaying a conventional activated sludge process. The new control law is based on the direct measurements of ammonium and nitrate concentration in the biological tank by ion selective electrodes. This control law features a cascade of two Predictive Function Controls and calculates an optimal air flow rate to be provided to the biomass through fine bubble diffusers. The results obtained at the full scale plant confirmed the high performance of this control strategy allowing to substantially reduce the amount of diffused air while providing an easy means to manage the effluent quality to the plant operator.