Glycosphingolipids Enhance Bacterial Attachment and Fouling of Nanofiltration Membranes

Haas, Robert de; Gutman, Jenia; Wardrip, Nathaniel C.; Kawahara, Kazuyoshi; Uhl, Wolfgang; Herzberg, Moshe; Arnusch, Christopher J.

doi:10.1021/ez500409h

Cited by 26 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…This observation that a greater EPS/SMP concentration in the membrane tank enhanced the adhesion ability of suspensions onto the membrane surface, has also been observed previously in the context of wastewater treatment (Tsuneda et al, 2003). Some polysaccharides play a key role in the initial attachment of bacteria to NF membranes (Haas et al, 2015).…”

Section: Organic Matter and Particles In The Watersupporting

confidence: 81%

Prevention of UF membrane fouling in drinking water treatment by addition of H2O2 during membrane backwashing

Graham

Liu

2019

Water Research

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Although conventional coagulation pre-treatment can mitigate the fouling of ultrafiltration (UF) membrane when treating raw waters, it is insufficient to restrict the development of irreversible fouling and reversible fouling to a low level. In this paper we demonstrate that the intermittent addition of H 2 O 2 into the membrane tank during backwash events (after coagulation pre-treatment) successfully prevented the development of any significant membrane fouling. Laboratory-scale tests were undertaken using two membrane systems operated in parallel over 60 days, one serving as a reference coagulation-ultrafiltration (CUF) process, and the other *Manuscript Click here to view linked References receiving the H 2 O 2 (CUF-H 2 O 2), with a decreasing dose in three successive phases: 10, 5 and 2 mg/L. The results showed that the addition of H 2 O 2 (via a separate dosing tube) during a 1 min backwash process (at 30 min intervals) reduced the growth of bacteria in the membrane tank, and the associated concentrations of soluble microbial products (SMP, including protein and polysaccharide). This resulted in a much reduced cake layer, which contained significantly less high MW organic matter (>50%), such as EPS, thereby improving the interaction between particles in the cake layer and/or particles and the membrane surface. There was also less organic matter, of all MW fractions, adsorbed in the membrane pores of the CUF-H 2 O 2 system. The addition of H 2 O 2 in the membrane tank appeared to alter the nature of the organic matter with a conversion of hydrophobic to hydrophilic fractions, which induced less organics adsorption within the hydrophobic PVDF membrane pores, and a reduced bonding ability for particles. There was no physico-chemical evidence of any deterioration of the membrane from exposure to H 2 O 2 , which indicates the feasibility of applying this novel method of fouling control for full-scale UF based water treatment processes.

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Section: Organic Matter and Particles In The Watersupporting

confidence: 81%

Prevention of UF membrane fouling in drinking water treatment by addition of H2O2 during membrane backwashing

Graham

Liu

2019

Water Research

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“…Membrane fouling inevitably decreases the water flux of a reverse osmosis (RO) system because of the accumulation of solids on the membrane. − Most RO membranes are currently made with a thin film of an active layer of polyamide, coated onto a structural support layer. There are four types of fouling: particulate, scaling, organic, and biological. , Particulate and scaling can be minimized by pretreatment (e.g., ultrafiltration) and chemical dosages (e.g., antiscalants). , Organic and biofouling are considered the major fouling types in practice in RO and nanofiltration water treatment. , Membrane modification methods used to mitigate fouling of the polyamide layer are based on altering the membrane surface, , for example, by making it less hydrophobic, , bonding polymers to the surface to create a steric barrier between the membrane and the foulant, , or adding materials such as graphene oxides, carbon nanotubes, and mesoporous carbons to the membrane to reduce the adhesion of foulants on the surface, or using electric fields .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyelectrolyte-Based Sacrificial Protective Layer for Fouling Control in Reverse Osmosis Desalination

Son

Yang

Bucs

et al. 2018

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes inevitably foul because of the accumulation of material on the membrane surface. Instead of trying to reduce membrane fouling by chemically modifying the membrane, we took a different approach based on adding a sacrificial coating of two polyelectrolytes to the membrane. After membrane fouling, this coating was removed by flushing with a highly saline brine solution, and a new coating was regenerated in situ to provide a fresh protective layer (PL) on the membrane surface. The utility of this approach was demonstrated by conducting four consecutive dead-end filtration experiments using a model foulant (alginate, 200 ppm) in a synthetic brackish water (2000 ppm of NaCl). Brine removal and regeneration of the PL coating restored the water flux to an average of 97 ± 3% of its initial flux, compared to only 83 ± 3% for the pristine membrane. The average water flux for the PL-coated membranes was 15.5 ± 0.6 L m −2 h −1 until the flux was decreased by 10% versus its initial flux, compared to 13.4 ± 0.5 L m −2 h −1 for the nontreated control. The use of a sacrificial PL coating could therefore provide a more sustainable approach for addressing RO membrane fouling.

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“…These include: (I) oligotrophic growth, (II) the arrangement of their cell wall, which is hydrophobic due to the presence of glycosphingolipids rather than lipopolysaccharides, (III) the EPS composition which facilitates membrane adhesion and also provides strong rigidity, and (IV) surface motility by twitching and swimming. 28,32,33 Only one study has investigated the behavior of bacteria isolated from the influent of high-pressure membranes and this study illustrates that most of the culturable bacteria present in the feed, including those belonging to the Sphingomonadaceae family, are nonmotile. 34 Members of the Sphingomonas genus are known to be nonmotile or contain a single polar flagellum 21 (Supplementary Table 2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Isolation and characterization of Sphingomonadaceae from fouled membranes

Vries

Beyer

Jarzembowska

et al. 2019

npj Biofilms Microbiomes

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Membrane filtration systems are widely applied for the production of clean drinking water. However, the accumulation of particles on synthetic membranes leads to fouling. Biological fouling (i.e., biofouling) of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes is difficult to control by existing cleaning procedures. Improved strategies are therefore needed. The bacterial diversity on fouled membranes has been studied, especially to identify bacteria with specialized functions and to develop targeted approaches against these microbes. Previous studies have shown that Sphingomonadaceae are initial membrane colonizers that remain dominant while the biofilm develops. Here, we characterized 21 Sphingomonadaceae isolates, obtained from six different fouled membranes, to determine which physiological traits could contribute to colonization of membrane surfaces. Their growth conditions ranged from temperatures between 8 and 42 oC, salinity between 0.0 and 5.0% w/v NaCl, pH from 4 and 10, and all isolates were able to metabolize a wide range of substrates. The results presented here show that Sphingomonadaceae membrane isolates share many features that are uncommon for other members of the Sphingomonadaceae family: all membrane isolates are motile and their tolerance for different temperatures, salt concentrations, and pH is high. Although relative abundance is an indicator of fitness for a whole group, for the Sphingomonadaceae it does not reveal the specific physiological traits that are required for membrane colonization. This study, therefore, adds to more fundamental insights in membrane biofouling.

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Glycosphingolipids Enhance Bacterial Attachment and Fouling of Nanofiltration Membranes

Cited by 26 publications

References 30 publications

Prevention of UF membrane fouling in drinking water treatment by addition of H2O2 during membrane backwashing

Prevention of UF membrane fouling in drinking water treatment by addition of H2O2 during membrane backwashing

Polyelectrolyte-Based Sacrificial Protective Layer for Fouling Control in Reverse Osmosis Desalination

Isolation and characterization of Sphingomonadaceae from fouled membranes

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