Sustainable reclamation and reuse of industrial wastewater including membrane bioreactor technologies: case studies

One of the most crucial and difficult elements of the bioprocess is its ability to separate between the biosolids and the liquid effluent phase. The objectives of this study were to evaluate practical possibilities to upgrade existing wastewater treatment facilities by operating aerobic treatment based on MBR technology, in order to obtain high quality effluent for sustainable reclamation and reuse of industrial wastewater. Three different types of industrial wastewaters have been biologically treated by MBR working on hollow fiber technology: (a) paper mill; (b) food production; (c) fuel port facilities. The MBR received preliminarily treated effluent by anaerobic, chemical and physical processes, respectively. The experimental work in this study indicated that biological treatment of industrial wastewater containing contaminants characterized by hydrophobicity and/or by low biodegradability would require the adaptation of the MBR operation conditions, by lowering cell residence time and MLVSS in the bioreactor and by increasing the amounts of excess biosolids accordingly. The effluent was of high quality and could be considered for reuse in paper mill and food production.