Ultrafiltration in small Bavarian treatment plants for drinking water

摘要

In Bavaria, many drinking water supplies use ground-water containing high turbidity and fecally derived microbes as raw water for drinking water production. Furthermore, the companies are very small and require both reliable and low cost solutionsto purify the water. Chlorination or UV-radiation as disinfection measures are usually employed. However, an efficient filtration step to remove turbidity is required. Over a period of two-and-a-half years ultrafiltration was tested at small water companies under practical conditions. First results show a very high elimination of particles including all pathogenic organisms. These high elimination rates meet with extraordinary reliability and comparative low running costs. The variability of raw water quality has different effects on the operation of different treatment plants. Therefore, planning of ultrafiltration has to be very careful, using pilot systems as a method of testing. Ultrafiltration of microbial contaminated raw water seems to be a reliable and economical method of drinking water treatment for small water companies.