Ultra Filtration Water Treatment Units

Ultrafiltration (UF) is a membrane barrier that filters out particles as small as 0.01 microns, including bacteria, viruses and colloids. UF has several advantages when compared to conventional treatments such as clarifiers and media filters. It has high tolerance to feed water quality upsets, is an absolute barrier and has improved water quality.

BI Pure Water has used UF successfully for municipal potable water for removing turbidity, wastewater process recycling, industrial sites, as a pre-filter to RO – the variety of applications of UF is growing.

UF membranes used have been tested and certified by NSF International under NSF/ANSI Standard 61, and also have NSF/ANSI 419 LRV certifications facilitating safe use in drinking water applications.

UF vessel skid

Membrane Cleaning

The UF is usually equipped with a backwash program. The backwash may include dosing sodium hypochlorite as needed or, if required based on water quality, a Chemically Enhanced Backwash (CEB) system can be included with either Sodium Hypochlorite followed by a CEB with caustic soda or acid.

Potable water UF membranes have an integrated membrane integrity test. In the case of a membrane break a warning is sent to the operator. The Backwash may include an air scour step, with air supplied by an Air Blower. For waste process water the UF may have a turbidity analyzer that checks the quality of the water and if the turbidity goes above a certain level a warning is sent to the operator that there may be a break in the membrane.

Monitoring and Maintenance

The UF unit is monitored and operated by the PLC, including automatic backwashes. In our experience UF membranes last from 5-7 years. Clients are saving on daily maintenance and filter costs and appreciate the environmental impact of fewer consumables.