the WATER MEM branch technique (MBR technique)
As our company name already suggests, the focus of our company is on membrane processes, such as those used in membrane bioreactors (MBR) as an alternative process to conventional wastewater treatment technology.
The classical process concept consists of aeration basins and secondary sedimentation, in which activated sludge is separated from the treated wastewater by sedimentation and returned to the aeration basin. Due to the sedimentation behavior of the activated sludge, the dry matter content in conventional plants is limited and the activated sludge can only be incompletely separated, so pathogenic agents such as viruses, bacteria and parasites end up in the effluent and thus in surface waters.
In contrast to conventional wastewater plants, membrane activated sludge plants combine the aeration tank with membrane filtration to separate water and activated sludge. In this process, secondary sedimentation is substituted by membrane filtration. The concentration of biomass in the activated sludge is no longer dependent on the sedimentation behavior in the secondary clarification, and can thus be increased considerably compared to conventional process technology, so that high solids contents can be achieved in the activated sludge tank.
The ultrafiltration membranes used retain 99.99% of solids and pathogenic germs thanks to a pore size of just 0.03μm!
By eliminating the secondary clarifier and increasing the dry solids content, space can be saved and the plants can be built much more compactly with significantly better effluent quality. The hygienization required in conventional processes by means of chemicals or UV radiation is not necessary with MBR technology.
Membrane process technology additionally represents an insurmountable barrier against microplastics! Unfortunately, microplastics are increasingly polluting our rivers and oceans. Microplastic is a component of many everyday products. It gets into wastewater treatment plants via our wastewater. If the wastewater treatment plants do not have downstream membrane filtration, microplastics are discharged 1 to 1 into the environment together with the treated wastewater, where they are e.g. absorbed by fish.