Ceramic membranes used in conjunction with ozone produce significant benefits for water recycling. Jonathan Clement of Black & Veatch, revealed this research result to the Australian Water Association’s (AWA) third specialty conference on membranes and desalination held in Sydney, Australia, on 11-13 February 2009.
Clement, based in the Netherlands and managing a global research initiative for Black & Veatch, spoke about research results in the use of ceramic membranes for municipal water systems and the research studies being undertaken in Singapore and Stockholm, Sweden.
“Over the last decade, membranes have become the dominant technology for the filtration of drinking water,” Clement said. “Although costs of maintaining and operating membranes in water treatment systems have come down in about the last five years, polymeric fibres in membranes have a relatively short lifespan of only 5-8 years and need replacing regularly.”
Early results indicate that ceramic membranes used in conjunction with ozone produces significant benefits that help in water recycling, he said. This, coupled with the increase in lifespan of the membranes as a result of the durability of ceramics, could help to reduce the costs of water recycling facilities.
D&WR magazine will carry an article by Jonathan Clement in its May/June 2009 issue.