Recycled desalination membranes as a support material for biofilm development: A new approach for microcystin removal during water treatment

Morón-López, J. and Nieto, L. and Senán, J. and Molina, S. and El-Shehawy, R. (2019) Recycled desalination membranes as a support material for biofilm development: A new approach for microcystin removal during water treatment. Science of The Total Environment, 647. pp. 785-793. ISSN 00489697

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.435

Abstract

Increased harmful cyanobacterial blooms and drought are some negative impacts of global warming. To deal with cyanotoxin release during water treatment, and to manage the massive quantities of end-of-life membrane waste generated by desalination processes, we propose an innovative biological system developed from recycled reverse osmosis (RO) membranes to remove microcystins (MC). Our system, named the Recycled-Membrane Biofilm Reactor (R-MBfR), effectively removes microcystins, while reducing the pollution impact of RO membrane waste by prolonging their life span at the same time. This multidisciplinary work showed that the inherent flaw of RO membranes, i.e., fouling, can be considered an advantageous characteristic for biofilm attachment. Factors such as roughness, hydrophilic surfaces, and the role of calcium in cell-cell and cell-surface interactions, encouraged bacterial growth on discarded membranes. Biofilm development was stimulated by using a laboratory-scale membrane module simulator cell. The R-MBfR proved versatile and was capable of degrading 2 mg·L−1 of MC in 24 h. The economic feasibility of the scaling-up of the hypothetical R-MBfR was also validated. Therefore, this membrane recycling could be a future green cost-effective alternative technology for MC removal.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Q Science > QD Chemistry
T Technology > TP Chemical technology
Divisions: Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics > School of Civil Engineering and the Environment
Depositing User: Dr. Serena Molina Martínez
Date Deposited: 06 Sep 2018 15:12
Last Modified: 20 Oct 2021 07:20
URI: http://eprints.imdea-agua.org:13000/id/eprint/920

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