Efficacy of electrochemical membrane bioreactor for virus removal from wastewater: Performance and mechanisms

Wastewater treatment facilities play pivotal roles in preventing the transmission of water-borne viruses and protecting human health. In this study, a new electrochemical membrane bioreactor (EMBR) was proposed to achieve a long-lasting and efficient removal of virus from wastewater. Results showed that applying a low electric field (2.0 V) in EMBR system could achieve similar to 100% removal efficiency at both batch tests and continuous flow experiments. In contrast, the control MBR, without the exertion of electric field, exhibited a very low removal efficiency (19.8% on average). Moreover, the fouling in EMBR was significantly mitigated, which enabled its operation duration almost 3 times longer than that of the control. Further explorations suggested that the reactive oxidants generated on electrodes in the EMBR system were mainly responsible for MS2 removal. This study demonstrated the potential of utilizing the EMBR process to achieve an enhanced virus disinfection efficiency during the wastewater treatment process.

Automated summary

The study demonstrated the superior virus removal efficiency of the new electrochemical membrane bioreactor (EMBR) in wastewater treatment compared to the traditional MBR, mainly due to the reactive oxidants generated in the EMBR system. The EMBR system effectively mitigated the accumulation of pollutants, extending its operational duration to nearly 3 times that of the control group.