Watercore Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) : the highest effluent quality in wastewater treatment

Watercore MBRs (membrane bioreactors) produce a high-quality effluent that can be discharged to environmentally sensitive areas or can also be recycled

EDGECLIFF, NSW, AUSTRALIA, October 19, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Watercore MBRs (membrane bioreactors) produce a high-quality effluent that can be discharged to river, ocean, or environmentally sensitive areas, but it can also be recycled for recreational field irrigation, agriculture, artificial waterfalls and recreational pond makeup, nonpotable domestic use, cooling tower makeup, vehicle washing, fire protection, dust control, construction, etc.

A membrane bioreactor is an activated sludge system in which the secondary clarifyer is replaced with a set of microfiltration or ultrafiltration membranes. This technology has been in the market since 1969 and is now widely used in all-size applications.

MBRs are characterised by:

Small footprint
- Low concern about the reclaimed water quality due to complete suspended solids capture across the membrane
- Lower water disinfection dose due to the low turbidity effluent

The use of MBR technology offers an opportunity to implement some of the objectives of the "Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling: Managing Health and Environmental Risk" in a controlled and responsible framework.

Remote monitoring and logging of the most critical process parameters will guarantee a safe operational environment for end-users, underground water bodies and rest of stakeholders.

The main benefits of installing a Watercore MBR membrane bioreactor are:

- Excellent effluent quality allows water recycling or direct discharge in sensitive environments
- Small footprint (50% approx.) compared with other activated sludge processes-
- Low disinfection doses are required as most bacteria and viruses (>98%) are retained by the membrane

The main components of a Watercore MBR membrane bioreactor are:
- Equalization Tank: Flow equalization is a crucial step to secure efficient use of the entire system without causing hydraulic or organic overloads. It is sized on a project basis to buffer peak flows.
- Aeration Tank: where various microorganisms cooperate to oxidize biodegradable organics and nitrogen. Approximately 30% to 60% of the carbons in the biodegradable organics are assimilated to live microorganisms while the rest of them are oxidized to CO2. Organic and inorganic nitrogen are also oxidized to nitrate.
- Anoxic tank: removal of nitrogen is enhanced when molecular oxygen (O2) is not present for bacterial respiration and combined oxygen contained in nitrate (NO3 -N) is used as an alternative oxygen source. Molecular nitrogen (N2) is then released.
- Microfiltration Membrane: with a typical pore size of 0.4 microns, the filtration membrane provides a physical barrier to organic and inorganic matter suspended in the water as well as bacteria and viruses.

Other optional features are:
- Advanced phosphorus removal: more than 80% of the total incoming phosphorus is typically removed by the standard MBR process. When more stringent removal rates are required, alum and ferric coagulants can reduce the phosphorus concentration in effluent down to 0.04 mg/L
- Advanced non-biodegradable COD removal: when influent contains high levels of non-biodegradable COD, PAC can be added to the aeration tank.
- Effluent disinfection (post-treatment): typical MBR virus and bacteria removal is >98%. Additional effluent disinfection can be achieved by chlorination and/or UV.

Contact one of our experts for the best water treatment advice

David Garcia
Watercore
info@watercore.com.au
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