Review of a Membrane Technology in Water Supply Systems - Nanofiltration

During the period of 1970s, the Reverse Osmosis membranes were developed which comprised of higher operating pressures. The consequence of this was the considerable increase in energy cost. As a result, low-pressure reverse osmosis membranes were developed and came to be known as Nanofilter (NF) membranes1,2. Through the late 1980s, Nanofilters came into establishment. From early 1990s, these had become common with varying applications to be found. The features of this membrane technology falls between ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis. Even though RO membranes take over the desalinization of marine water, Nanofiltration has widespread use in wastewater treatment, industrial applications for eliminating ion selections, and organic substances3,4.5. It is most often used with low total dissolved solids water such as surface water and fresh groundwater with the purpose of water softening and removal of disinfection byproduct precursors such as natural organic compounds and synthetic organic compounds. Depending on several factors considering the quality of the water in use, treatment capacity, the purpose of treatment, and the requirements for durability, the selection of NF membranes can be made over other treatment processes6,7 .