The crude organic extracts of the endemic gorgonian Phyllogorgia dilatata and two sponge species Aplysina fulva and Mycale microsigmatosa were evaluated for anti-fouling properties through field experiments. To investigate this property in ecologically meaningful conditions, crude extracts from these invertebrates were incorporated at concentrations naturally found in these marine organisms int...

In the last decades, membrane processes have gained a significant share of the market for wastewater purification. Although the product (i.e., purified water) is not of high added value, these processes are feasible both technically and from an economic point of view, provided the flux is relatively high and that membrane fouling is strongly inhibited. By controlling membrane fouling, the membr...

Biofouling is a serious problem in marine aquaculture and it has a number of negative impacts including increased forces on aquaculture structures and reduced water exchange across nets. This in turn affects the behavior of fish cages in waves and currents and has an impact on the water volume and quality inside net pens. Even though these negative effects are acknowledged by the research commu...

A membrane bioreactor (MBR) and an activated sludge process (ASP) were operated side by side to evaluate the change of sludge supernatant characteristics and the evolution of the sludge fouling propensity. The MBR sludge had a higher organic concentration and more biopolymer clusters (BPC) in the supernatant compared with ASP. BPC increased in both concentration and size in the MBR. The results...

Biofouling is generally undesirable for many applications. An overview of the medical, marine and industrial fields susceptible to fouling is presented. Two types of fouling include biofouling from organism colonization and inorganic fouling from non-living particles. Nature offers many solutions to control fouling through various physical and chemical control mechanisms. Examples include low d...

A laboratory-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) and nanofiltration (NF) hybrid system has been built to investigate effects of changes in characteristics of effluent organic matter by the MBR on fouling characteristics of the NF membranes. Large amounts of polysaccharide-like substances with small molecular weight and strong fluorescence intensity at the excitation wavelength of 230nm and the emis...

Membrane fouling precludes the widespread application of membrane filtration system from treating wastewater and drinking water, and occurs even under sub-critical flux operations. Hence the characteristics and behavior of membrane foulants should be thoroughly investigated, so as to find ways to reduce membrane fouling in membrane bioreactors. The purpose of this study is to compare the membra...

Using laboratory assays, we tested whether the secondary metabolites (furanones) on the surface of the red alga Delisea pulchra deter the settlement and growth of a range of ecologically relevant fouling organisms. D. pulchra and 4 other co-occurring seaweeds were almost exclusively fouled by other algae. Consequently, we carried out laboratory assays using propagules from 4 fouling algae (Ulva...

Seasonal variations in the fouling diatom community from a monsoon influenced tropical estuary were investigated. The community composition did not differ significantly between stainless steel and polystyrene substrata due to dominance by Navicula spp. The experimental evidence suggests that Amphora, which is a dominant fouling diatom in temperate waters, ultimately dominates the community in t...