Using activated carbon to improve natural water treatment by porous membranes

Environmental transformations caused by the economic human activity generate rapid changes in surface water quality. The application of activated carbon in conjunction with microfiltration/ultrafiltration processes is an emergency technology for the removal of organic compounds from water for consumption purposes. This hybrid process (AC-MF/UF) utilizes the capabilities of activated carbon to adsorption of impurities and the microorganisms and particles removal ability of membranes. Ceramic membranes were applied and granulated and powdered activated carbon was used. Changes of volumetric permeate flux in time were estimated and the efficiency of the unit process was compared with the hybrid one, analyzing the physicochemical indexes of raw water and permeate. Two different methods have been proposed for the mathematical description of hybrid process of natural waters, that is: the model describing the changes of permeate flux in time, the relaxation model, and the model of filtration resistance.