Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is the combination of a membrane process like microfiltration or ultrafiltration with a biological wastewater treatment process, the activated sludge process. It is now widely used for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.
The water resource scarcity implies the need to reuse water, once it has been properly treated, thus guaranteeing environmental protection. Among the
treatment technologies available to regenerate wastewater, those that use membranes stand out for their capacity to retain solids, salts and even disinfect
water, producing water suitable for reuse in irrigation and other applications. A membrane is a material that allows the selective flow of certain substances. In case of the water purification or regeneration, the aim is for the water to flow through the membrane, retaining
undesirable species on the other side. Depending on the type of membrane it is possible to get better pollutant
retention.
When used with domestic wastewater, MBR processes can produce effluent of high quality enough to be discharged to the coastal, surface, or brackish waterways or to be reclaimed for urban irrigation. Other advantages of MBRs over conventional processes include small footprint, easy retrofit, and upgrading old wastewater treatment plants.
It is possible to operate MBR processes at higher mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentrations compared to conventional settlement separation
systems, thus reducing the reactor volume to achieve the same loading rate The easy installation enables immediate operativity of the plant and its modularity makes a parallel installation possible thus being able to reach are quired potential. The plants are equipped with a plumbing and electric system, they are insulated, air-conditioned and with indoor lighting. Sodai has been a supplier of, amongst others the US Army since 2003 in Iraq and Afghanistan, the UNO in Central Africa and on loan plants in Italy, South America and East Europe.