A COST ANAYLYSIS OF THE MEMBRANE BIOREACTOR (MBR) PROCESS FORWATER RECLAMATION

摘要

As a part of the Bureau of Reclamation funded project, “Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs) forWater Reclamation-Phase II”, a cost analysis was performed to determine the feasibility of fullscaleapplications of the MBR process compared to current wastewater technologies. Costanalyses were performed for 1 and 5-MGD (3,785 and 18,927 m3/d) installations producing: (1)secondary effluent, (2) Title 22 reclaimed water and (3) feed water to a reverse osmosis (RO)membrane system. Both capital and operations and maintenance (O&M) costs were evaluated toproduce a present worth value for each treatment option considered. This preliminary costevaluation showed that conventional treatment in the form of an oxidation ditch was mosteconomical for the production of secondary effluent ($2.66/kgal and $1.57/kgal for 1 and 5-MGD installations, respectively). The most cost effective treatment process producing Title 22reclaimed water was an oxidation ditch with granular filtration and chlorination ($2.89/kgal and$1.70/kgal, respectively). The most cost effective treatment process producing feed water for anRO membrane system was an MBR system ($3.05/kgal and $1.92/kgal, respectively).