Biological Activated Carbon Filtration Controls Membrane Fouling and Reduces By-Products from Chemically Enhanced Backwashing during Ultrafiltration Treatment

Water purification by ultrafiltration (UF) requires regular membrane cleaning via backwashing. In the case of chemically enhanced backwashing (CEB), it can result in the formation of unwanted by-product precursors due to reactions with organic matters present in the backwashing water and accumulating on the membrane. After subsequent disinfection, these precursors are prone to generate trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs), posing potential risks to the chemical safety of drinking water. However, limited information was available regarding the removal of these disinfection by-products. In this study, biological activated carbon (BAC) pretreatment followed by UF with chemically enhanced backwashing (CEB) (BAC-UF-CEB) was investigated to mitigate membrane fouling and reduce by-product formation. It was tested in parallel with UF with CEB (UF-CEB) and UF with sole physical backwashing. Compared to UF-CEB, BAC pretreatment prior to UF-CEB reduced transmembrane pressure (TMP) by 49.0%. BAC achieved high removals of dissolved organic carbon (59.99%) and UV254 absorbance (80.82%) in the BAC-UF-CEB effluent. Moreover, BAC-UF-CEB substantially decreased trihalomethane and haloacetic acid formation potentials by 83.28% compared to UF-CEB. BAC alleviated irreversible membrane fouling by 78.7%. By removing disinfection by-product precursors, BAC-UF-CEB markedly improved treated water quality and chemical safety. This study demonstrates BAC pretreatment effectively mitigates membrane fouling and controls disinfection by-products during UF water treatment.