Green biofouling prevention for safe drinking water in RO systems

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Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technology is a filtration technique that is widely applied in many water treatment facilities and industries due to its capability of producing fresh water from different types of water sources such as seawater, brackish water, and wastewater. RO membrane systems hold great potential to end water shortage problems throughout Canada and the world. Biofouling is the main challenge faced by RO membranes systems as it causes significant efficiency loss of RO system performance, increase of operational cost, and decrease of membrane lifetime. Chlorine disinfection is the most common technique applied to control biofouling in RO applications. However, due to the toxic and non-selective oxidizing nature of chlorine, this biocide can damage RO membranes, it is not easy to handle, and results in harmful disinfection by-products to humans and the environment. This project establishes a partnership between Bi Pure Water (Canada) Inc. and the University of Victoria Green Safe Water Lab to develop sustainable, economic, safe chemicals that prevent the detrimental effects of biofouling in RO systems. This work will take place in five stages: 1) testing the efficacy and applicability of non-oxidizing biocides for biofouling prevention and control in a bioreactor and 2) a laboratory RO system that mimic the conditions of full-scale RO systems; 3) testing the membrane compatibility of these potential green chemistries in a benchtop RO system; 4) testing the best anti-biofouling candidates, selected from the previous stages, in a larger RO system (pilot-scale) in the Bi Pure Water facilities; and 5) the design and synthesis of new green anti-biofouling chemicals. This innovation will benefit municipalities, federal, provincial and municipal governments, industry, remote work sites, and First Nations communities by the provision of a secure, safe, reliable, sustainable water supply via RO technologies.