Scale-Up Testing of a Novel Cleaning Method for Low-Pressure Hollow Fiber Membranes Treating High Algae Surface Waters

The objective of this study was to determine an optimum flux maintenance protocol for a hollow fiber membrane filtration, treating a surface water with high concentrations of algae and chlorophyll-a. The treatment process included a conventional coagulation followed by low-pressure membrane filtration (PF) and granular activated carbon (GAC). Results found that such combined process, including a membrane module and a GAC unit, was highly effective in removing typical taste and odor compounds such as geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB). During an algal bloom, the hollow fiber membrane completely removed the content of blue-green algae and chlorophyll-a. A new dynamic backwash protocol was evaluated and found it more effective than an ordinary backwash as measured by a transmembrane pressure control and a cleaning frequency.