Membrane Technology for Water: Microfiltration, Ultrafiltration, Nanofiltration, and Reverse Osmosis

Membrane technology is used in the water industry to improve the quality of water for use, reuse, or discharge to the environment. Membranes range from finely porous structures to nonporous and can remove contaminants such as bacteria and protozoa down to ions. This chapter describes the role of membrane technology in the water industry, how membranes are made and tested, the types of module used to house the membranes, and the basic relationships describing performance and operational aspects including energy usage and costs.