Ultrafiltration (UF) is one of the most prevailing processes for water and wastewater treatment. It is a membrane separation process in which water (or a fluid) is placed under pressure on one side of a semi-permeable membrane of a measured pore size (ranging from 0.001 to 0.1 µm). All materials smaller than the measured pore size pass through the membrane, leaving large contaminants concentrated on the feed side of the membrane. Thus, water particles and contaminants are removed based on size exclusion or particle capture. Therefore, there is no need for chemicals (e.g. disinfectants, coagulants, flocculants, etc) in killing water microorganisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, yeasts, etc) and removing water particles/ contaminants. This is not only environmentally-friendly, but it is cost-effective and provides far less exposure to hazardous chemicals.
