Feasibility of a two step microfiltration and reverse osmosis membrane system for reuse of tunnel wastewater

This study investigated the applicability of a two step microfiltration(MF) and reverse osmosis(RO) membrane system for reuse of tunnel wastewater. In this two step process, the MF system first treated only micropollutants in tunnel wastewater such as suspended solids(SS) and heavy metals, achieving less than 0.2 NTU turbidity, less than 1.1 mg/L chemical oxygen demand($COD_{Mn}$) and less than 0.8 mg/L total manganese(Mn). The RO system then removed over 95 % of the remaining pollutnats and particles, resulting in less than 0.02 NTU turbidity, less than 0.5 mg/L chemical oxygen demand($COD_{Mn}$), less than 0.04 mg/L total nitrogen(T-N) and less than 0.01 mg/L total phosphorus(T-P). In particular, addition of an RO system could lead to markedly reduced high salt concentrations in tunnel wastewater, approaching almost zero. Thus, reclaimed water using the combined membrane system could satisfy current South Korean regulations concerning wastewater reuse(turbidity ${\leq}2.0$ NTU; T-N ${\leq}10mg/L$; T-P ${\leq}0.5mg/L$; Salinity ${\leq}250mg{\cdot}Cl/L$).

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