Biofouling of Water Treatment Membranes: A Review of the Underlying Causes, Monitoring Techniques and Control Measures

Nguyen, Thi Hai Yen; Roddick, Felicity; Fan, Linhua

doi:10.3390/membranes2040804

Cited by 657 publications

(450 citation statements)

References 237 publications

(276 reference statements)

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“…Biofouling is the result of deposition of the microorganisms and microbial extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), e.g., polysaccharides and proteins, on the membrane surface. The microbes and their secreted EPS attach onto the membrane and proliferate to form a cake-layer on the membrane, leading to clogging of the membrane (Nguyen et al, 2012). Membrane clogging by the biofilm reduces the water permeability through the membrane, resulting in a lower permeate production (flux) or a higher transmembrane pressure (TMP) to maintain the constant flux.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of the archaeal community fouling a membrane bioreactor

Luo

Zhang

Tan

et al. 2015

Journal of Environmental Sciences

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Biofilm formation, one of the primary causes of biofouling, results in reduced membrane flux or increased transmembrane pressure and thus represents a major impediment to the wider implementation of membrane bioreactor (MBR) technologies for water purification. Most studies have focused on the role of bacteria in membrane fouling as they are the most dominant and best studied organisms present in the MBR. In contrast, there is limited information on the role of the archaeal community in biofilm formation in MBRs. This study investigated the composition of the archaeal community during the process of biofouling in an MBR. The archaeal community was observed to have lower richness and diversity in the biofilm than the sludge during the establishment of biofilms at low transmembrane pressure (TMP). Clustering of the communities based on the Bray-Curtis similarity matrix indicated that a subset of the sludge archaeal community formed the initial biofilms. The archaeal community in the biofilm was mainly composed of Thermoprotei, Thermoplasmata, Thermococci, Methanopyri, Methanomicrobia and Halobacteria. Among them, the Thermoprotei and Thermoplasmata were present at higher relative proportions in the biofilms than they were in the sludge. Additionally, the Thermoprotei, Thermoplasmata and Thermococci were the dominant organisms detected in the initial biofilms at low TMP, while as the TMP increased, the Methanopyri, Methanomicrobia, Aciduliprofundum and Halobacteria were present at higher abundances in the biofilms at high TMP.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of the archaeal community fouling a membrane bioreactor

Luo

Zhang

Tan

et al. 2015

Journal of Environmental Sciences

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“…In one example, data from 20 different NF and RO membranes resulted in extreme variation for surface contact angle (38.6º to 73.2º), root mean square (RMS) roughness (5.9 to 130 nm), and zeta streaming potential measurement values (-4.0 to -19.7 mV) [65]. All of these membrane properties have been shown to be involved in bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation [66]. In general it has been previously shown that the more hydrophobic, less negative and rougher a membrane is, the greater the likelihood of bacterial adhesion on the membrane [19,20,26,67].…”

Section: Membrane Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of cell-surface interactions in bacterial initial adhesion and consequent biofilm formation on nanofiltration/reverse osmosis membranes

Habimana

Semiao

Casey

2014

Journal of Membrane Science

231

113

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“…While NF is used for the treatment of surface water, groundwater, treated wastewater and sea water (Hilal et al ., 2004), which may differ in organic carbon variants (Nguyen et al ., 2012), the importance of assimilable compounds during biofouling of membranes cannot be ignored. One earlier study by Hijnen et al .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biofilm recruitment under nanofiltration conditions: the influence of resident biofilm structural parameters on planktonic cell invasion

Habimana

Casey

2017

Microbial Biotechnology

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SummaryIt is now generally accepted that biofouling is inevitable in pressure‐driven membrane processes for water purification. A large number of published articles describe the development of novel membranes in an effort to address biofouling in such systems. It is reasonable to assume that such membranes, even those with antimicrobial properties, when applied in industrial‐scale systems will experience some degree of biofouling. In such a scenario, an understanding of the fate of planktonic cells, such as those entering with the feed water, has important implications with respect to contact killing particularly for membranes with antimicrobial properties. This study thus sought to investigate the fate of planktonic cells in a model nanofiltration biofouling system. Here, the interaction between auto‐fluorescent Pseudomonas putida planktonic cells and 7‐day‐old Pseudomonas fluorescens resident biofilms was studied under permeate flux conditions in a nanofiltration cross flow system. We demonstrate that biofilm cell recruitment during nanofiltration is affected by distinctive biofilm structural parameters such as biofilm depth.

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Biofouling of Water Treatment Membranes: A Review of the Underlying Causes, Monitoring Techniques and Control Measures

Cited by 657 publications

References 237 publications

Characterization of the archaeal community fouling a membrane bioreactor

Characterization of the archaeal community fouling a membrane bioreactor

The role of cell-surface interactions in bacterial initial adhesion and consequent biofilm formation on nanofiltration/reverse osmosis membranes

Biofilm recruitment under nanofiltration conditions: the influence of resident biofilm structural parameters on planktonic cell invasion

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