Comparison of the reverse osmosis membrane fouling behaviors of different types of water samples by modeling the flux change over time.

Fouling of RO membranes has long been a complex but inevitable problem in wastewater reclamation. In this study, a modified intermediate blocking model with two parameters was applied to describe the flux change of RO membranes treating various water samples, including municipal secondary effluent, treated industrial wastewater, surface water, and groundwater. The model was validated by 55 sets of data reported by 13 articles, and the results were promising, with 90% of the determination coefficient (R) exceeding 0.90. Relatively large flux and high operational pressure were found likely to aggravate membrane fouling. Treated industrial wastewater had the highest fouling potential (fouling constant k: 0.061-2.433) compared to municipal wastewater secondary effluent, surface water, and groundwater, even with similar dissolved organic carbon concentration. With industrial wastewater excluded, water samples exhibited lower fouling potential than organic matter solutions, with the majority (25%∼75%) of k distributing in 0.03-0.12, much lower compared to the major k range of the latter (0.05-0.28). This suggested a deviation in fouling behaviors between model organic matters and real water samples. Xanthan gum and guar gum were proposed to be model polysaccharides based on their model parameters, which were relatively close to real water samples.