[1] Sensors deployed in the Columbia River estuary gather information on physical dynamics and changes in estuary habitat. Of these sensors, conductivity sensors are particularly susceptible to biofouling, which gradually degrades sensor response and corrupts critical data. Several weeks may pass before degradation is visibly detected. Since the onset time of biofouling is unknown, an indetermi...

Recently, enzymatic quorum quenching has proven its potential as an innovative approach for biofouling control in the membrane bioreactor (MBR) for advanced wastewater treatment. However, practical issues on the cost and stability of enzymes are yet to be solved, which requires more effective quorum quenching methods. In this study, a novel quorum quenching strategy, interspecies quorum quenchi...

In this study gravity-driven membrane (GDM) ultrafiltration is investigated for the pretreatment of seawater before reverse osmosis (RO). The impacts of temperature (21 ± 1 and 29 ± 1 °C) and hydrostatic pressure (40 and 100 mbar) on dynamic flux development and biofouling layer structure were studied. The data suggested pore constriction fouling was predominant at the early stage of filtration...

Biofouling is still a major challenge in the application of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes. Here we present a platform approach for environmentally friendly biofouling control using a combination of a hydrogel-coated feed spacer and two-phase flow cleaning. Neutral (polyHEMA-co-PEG10MA), cationic (polyDMAEMA) and anionic (polySPMA) hydrogels have been successfully grafted onto pol...

Bacteria regulate specific group behaviors such as biofilm formation in response to population density using small signal molecules called autoinducers (quorum sensing, QS). In this study, the concept of bacterial QS was applied to membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for advanced wastewater treatment as a new biofouling control paradigm. The research was conducted in three phases: (1) demonstrate the p...

Since many years, membrane biofouling has been described as the Achilles heel of membrane fouling. In the present study, an ecological assay was performed using model systems with increasing complexity: a monospecies assay using Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Escherichia coli separately, a duospecies assay using both microorganisms, and a multispecies assay using activated sludge with or without spi...

It is now generally accepted that biofouling is inevitable in pressure-driven membrane processes for water purification. A large number of published articles describe the development of novel membranes in an effort to address biofouling in such systems. It is reasonable to assume that such membranes, even those with antimicrobial properties, when applied in industrial-scale systems will experie...

The continuous, real-time monitoring of clinically important analytes (e.g., PO2, PCO2, pH, K+, Na+, glucose, and lactate) is of great importance to human health care. Despite considerable efforts spanning several decades, the use of in vivo sensors clinically remains limited due to inadequate biocompatibility. The discovery of nitric oxide (NO) as an effective inhibitor of platelet and bacteri...

Unsustainable harvesting of natural fish stocks is driving an ever growing marine aquaculture industry. Part of the aquaculture support industry is net suppliers who provide producers with nets used in confining fish while they are grown to market size. Biofouling must be addressed in marine environments to ensure maximum product growth by maintaining water flow and waste removal through the ne...

Marine organism are often kept, cultured, and experimented on in running seawater aquaria. However, surprisingly little attention is given to the nutrient composition of the water flowing through these systems, which is generally assumed to equal in situ conditions, but may change due to the presence of biofouling organisms. Significantly lower bacterial abundances and higher inorganic nitrogen...