Advances in membrane technologies for water treatment

Abstract

Water is the most abundant and renewable resource in the world. Unfortunately, only a small quantity is fit for use to sustain human life. In addition, population growth coupled with industrialization and urbanization has led to the increased pollution of existing freshwater resources, resulting in an increased demand for fresh water. At the same time, challenges related to water systems are expected to increase in the near future, requiring further investment and technological innovation to meet global needs. Currently, water recycling is widely accepted as a sustainable option in response to the general increase in the demand for fresh water and to water shortages and environmental protection. According to this view, industrial companies are increasingly interested in recycling wastewater to reach an ideal zero-discharge condition. Membrane technology has become a significant separation technology in the field of water filtration over the past two decades, providing effective alternatives to related technologies such as adsorption, extraction, distillation, ion exchangers, and sand filters. It enables desalination, or obtaining drinking water from saltwater,aswellaspurification of groundwater or wastewater. Low-energy consumption, continuous separation, easy scale-up, modularity, remote control, and no phase separation are well-recognized key advantages of membrane processes over conventional separation technologies. The growth of the global membranes market is mainly the result of the impressive development of materials used for membrane fabrication and modification, improvements in membrane modules, and the evolution of different related systems, plants, and equipment.