Japan's Aqua Renaissance '90 Project

Abstract

Aqua Renaissance' 90 is a six year R & D project for water reuse and energy recovery supported by the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry. The objective is to develop low cost treatment processes utilizing bioreactors coupled with membrane separation units to produce reusable water from industrial waste water and sewage. Polymeric and ceramic membranes in capillary, hollow fiber, tubular and plate and frame modules have been tested in conjunction with bioreactors on a number of actual waste water and sewage streams. This paper will focus on membrane performance and power consumption. Recent results from test plant operation indicate that treatment of concentrated waste water by membrane separation units uses less than a third of the conventional power requirement.