The role of membrane filtration in wastewater treatment

Abstract Water is vital for the sustainable growth of human communities. Due to the greatest population and significant economic development, demands on water and purification have significantly risen. Classical wastewater treatment procedures have made some progress over the years in purifying effluents for disposal, but they fall lacking in the way they deeply control emerging harmful substances. The potential to reuse treated wastewater for home, agricultural, and industrial needs depends on breakthroughs in purifying technologies. One of the most recent breakthroughs to be implemented effectively in reducing contaminants to desirable levels is membrane technology. Nanofiltration, microfiltration, reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, and membrane bioreactors are examples of widely utilized membrane processes depending on features such as size or charge. Over traditional treatment, membrane technology offers various benefits. This review article discusses a number of membrane‐related topics, including membrane categorizing, application in various fields, benefits, and drawbacks. Furthermore, offers an outlook of the filtering membranes that will be used in the future. Smart membranes have gained interest because of their tunable permeability and selectivity characteristics. Technological advancements in the media that are utilized in activated growth membrane bioreactors. Modified interfacial polymerization approaches have been investigated in addition to adsorptive ultrafiltration mixed matrix membranes to enhance the performance of the polyamide thin‐film composite and thin‐film nanocomposite membranes.