Performance of low pressure reverse osmosis membrane treating synthetic natural organic matter (NOM) and endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC)

Abstract

The current study describes the performance of low pressure reverse osmosis membrane (LPROM) treating synthetic wastewater containing dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, DDT (endocrine disrupting chemical, EDC) and glucose (natural organic matter, NOM) at various operating pressure and pH. The experimental results were compared to a modified design expert model using response surface method (RSM). Results showed up to 94.6% DDT and 85% glucose removal was achieved in the membrane system at an operating pressure and pH of 100 psi and 9, respectively, indicating efficient performance of the system. However, when the membrane system was operated at elevated pressure and low pH (120 psi and pH 5.5), the DDT and glocose removal efficiencies decreased to 91.2 and 75.5%, respectively, indicating operating pressure and pH affected the performance of the system. The design expert analysis for both DDT and glucose showed high removal efficiencies (93.67 and 81.70%) when the LPROM was operated at 114.14 psi, confirming that the LPROM is an excellent system for the treatment of EDC and NOM containing wastewater.