Feasibility and Environmental Impact of NOM Reduction by Microfiltration at a Finnish Surface Water Treatment Plant

Low-pressure membranes (including microfiltration and ultrafiltration) for natural organic matter removal in drinking water treatment have gained increasing interest the Nordic countries. Microfiltration can produce stable quality requires less space than conventional treatment. Hollow fibre coupled with chemical coagulation was tested at a Finnish surface plant to study its feasibility environmental impact compared clarification, rapid sand filtration ozonation. improved both physical quality, while similar that of Membrane would increase operational costs by 2.5–3.5 euro cents per m3. Most derive from chemicals used membrane cleaning. is an energy-intensive process, but energy production countries has low emission factor. Greenhouse gas emissions operating are estimated 16 g CO2-eq./m3 permeate. Lowering consumption using renewable could decrease total emissions.