Low-cost recycled end-of-life reverse osmosis membranes for water treatment at the point-of-use. (15th August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Moreira, Victor Rezende; Lebron, Yuri Abner Rocha; Santos, Lucilaine Valéria de Souza; Amaral, Míriam Cristina Santos
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 362(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-08-15
• Subjects: Membranes -- Ultrafiltration -- Potability standards -- Water treatment -- Safe water supply -- Household modules; Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132495
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: Decentralized systems applied at the point-of-use (POU) could be an alternative for a safe drinking water supply in isolated regions and developing countries. Based on that, it was investigated the recycling of end-of-life reverse osmosis (EoL-RO) household modules as an alternative for groundwater treatment at the POU. The membranes were recycled through chemical oxidation using NaOCl (440, 000 ppm h) and were validated in a long-term operation. The systems operated in a dead-end configuration mode without external energy requirements for permeation, only the hydraulic force provided by the water grid. The increase in permeability from 4.5 to 50.4 L/m 2 h.bar and decrease in salinity rejection from 99.4 to 11.6% suggests that the EoL-RO was effectively converted to ultrafiltration (UF). The recycled membrane still presented a lower resistance to filtration due to its porous characteristics (average pore size 0.04 ± 0.01 μm). In the perspective of POU application, the lower energy requirement for the recycled membranes compared to EoL-RO would represent advantages if compared to reverse osmosis household modules, more energy-demanding filters. Effective water treatment and a low fouling propensity were observed for long-term operation at the POU. The monitoring data demonstrates a steady permeate flux (21.2 ± 0.46 L/m 2 h) and filtration resistance (6.37 ± 0.16 × 10 14 1/m), producing a total permeate volume (3, 000 L) comparable with commercial filtration systems and in compliance with the 109 potability standards analyzed. From a broader perspective, the advantages of using recycled membranes could be extended to environmental aspects, preventing the production of waste from spent membranes and focusing on cleaner production of technical processes. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: A safe drinking water supply is guaranteed by recycled household modules. Recycled modules are comparable to commercial UF ones. Treated water attained all 109 potability standards analyzed. The grid independence enables the use of recycled membranes in isolated regions.