A new wastewater treatment system demonstrates performance and versatility in a growing number of installations, including municipal sewage and high strength industrial, food, livestock, textile and hospital wastewaters. The hyper-active and dense biomass naturally attaches in proprietary porous rotors, enabling a system very economical in land, energy and capital cost.
14 February 2012
Water scarcity, climate change and increased global energy consumption are all having an impact on technology and investment trends and leading to the implementation of more desalination projects. Anthony Bennett looks at how current and future technologies and manufacturing practices are constantly lowering the cost of desalination with every new innovation made.
14 February 2012
The use of nanofiltration has been studied as a post-treatment after coagulation–flocculation of a mixture of effluents from textile industry operations. The use of microfiltration pretreatment leads to an enhanced nanofiltration permeate in terms of flux and quality.
14 February 2012
Ozone and ozone/peroxide are effective in reducing the potential formation of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Both ozone and ozone/peroxide remove trace organic contaminants (TOrCs), and hydrogen peroxide provides a significant benefit in the removal of TOrCs in surface water.
13 February 2012
A new thin-film composite hollow fibre membrane has been developed for pressure retarded osmosis. High power density can be achieved using seawater and wastewater brines, demonstrating that this hollow fibre membrane has potential for PRO in harvesting salinity gradient energy.
09 February 2012
Real-time control is a key issue in optimising the process of nitrogen bioremoval. The potential of indirect parameters for real-time control is investigated here for both municipal and strongly nitrogenous wastewaters.
07 February 2012
This comprehensive study of effluent organic matter, using geochemical techniques, finds that effluent organic matter is similar to microbially derived natural organic matter. It is found that the characteristics of the effluent organic matter are similar, regardless of the treatment plant.
06 February 2012
Membrane orientation and organic fouling have been investigated in terms of their influence on the performance of forward osmosis membranes in the removal of boron and arsenic. Rejection of both was higher in FO mode compared to the pressure-driven RO mode.
02 February 2012
This study evaluates the first application of a pollutant abatement policy in a highly developed coastal area of Korea. Land–sea pollutant interactions were addressed by a six-year systematic monitoring effort, and a reduction in land-based pollutants was successfully achieved by control of point sources.
31 January 2012
A water services provider in Kenya's coast province has installed a new set of vertical multistage pumps at its water treatment plant following a failure. Mawasco, based in Malindi, Kenya, procured a set of Poldap Dalgic Pump sets from Konya in Turkey as replacements. Shem Oirere tells the story.
31 January 2012
This review paper looks at treatment technologies for reverse osmosis (RO) concentrates. The analysis considers volume reduction of the effluent, reducing the pollutant load, and the recovery of valuable compounds, salts and nutrients. It also considers advanced techniques aimed at zero liquid discharge.
30 January 2012
Estrogen and xenoestrogen levels have been chemical and biologically assessed in raw and drinking water samples from Brazilian intakes. It was found that estrogenicity is a better guiding parameter to select samples and chemical substances to be investigated. This integrated approach can guide the development of adequate treatment technologies.
26 January 2012
Energy savings can be obtained in several ways, but before manufacturers turn to hydraulic optimisation of units or apply new electrical drives or powerful control systems, they should look at the dimensions of the pipelines and make sure they get the duty point specifications right. This can be done with the aid of web-based tools from Vogel Software.
24 January 2012
This study of seawater desalination by forward osmosis found that the dominant inorganic fouling is caused by polymerised silica scaling, in which the fouling layer comprises silica scaling surrounded by biopolymers. While the flux saw a significant decrease, it can be partially recovered by water flushing.
24 January 2012
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been used to compare different membrane bioreactor configurations with increasing complexity. Energy use and sludge disposal were identified as major environmental hot spots, and it was also found that there is an inverse relationship between technological complexity and environmental impact.
23 January 2012
This review of electrochemical technologies looks at how nitrate and organic carbon contaminants can be removed from aquaculture wastewater in a ‘green’ manner. Mechanisms of contaminant removal in electrochemical and bio-electrochemical reactors are discussed. It is found that 99% of organic matter and nitrate can be removed using bio-electrochemical cells.
19 January 2012
Brazil is known for its use of hydropower, but when a small, remote tourism complex in a Brazilian nature reserve needed additional power supply, a conventional hydropower solution was deemed too expensive. A more affordable option came in the form of a KSB centrifugal pump driving an electric motor acting as a generator.
17 January 2012
A method has been developed to test the resilience of water supply drought plans to extended droughts. Reservoir models are used interactively to expose managers to an unfolding drought, highlighting decision points and weaknesses in drought plans. The method is demonstrated for two water supply systems in the UK.
17 January 2012
A novel magnetic vibrating module system has been developed, which shows promise as an energy-efficient process to limit fouling in membrane bioreactors used to treat wastewater.
16 January 2012
The water quality of the East Pearl River in southern Mississippi was examined before and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The analysis finds that hurricane-induced vegetative destruction within this river basin has not greatly changed carbon or suspended particulate concentrations, suggesting that the system is resilient.
12 January 2012