Pharmaceuticals are present in various waters and can be almost completely rejected by membrane separation processes, i.e., nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO). Nevertheless, the adsorption of pharmaceuticals can decrease their rejection, so adsorption can be considered a very important removal mechanism. In order to increase the lifetime of the membranes, the adsorbed pharmaceuticals must be cleaned from the membrane. The used pharmaceutical (albendazole), the most common anthelmintic for threatening worms, has been shown to adsorb to the membrane (solute-membrane adsorption). In this paper, which is a novelty, commercially available cleaning reagents, NaOH/EDTA solution, and methanol (20%, 50%, and ≥99.6%) were used for pharmaceutical cleaning (desorption) of the NF/RO membranes used. The effectiveness of the cleaning was verified by Fourier-transform infrared spectra of the membranes. Of all the chemical cleaning reagents used, pure methanol was the only cleaning reagent that removed albendazole from the membranes.

Due to strong globalization and industrialization, water has become a scarce resource. One industry that uses a lot of water and generates a large amount of wastewater is the textile industry. According to the Best Available Techniques reference document, pressure-driven membrane processes have been declared the best methods for the treatment and reuse of textile wastewater. Such processes generate a certain amount of solid waste in addition to excellent permeate quality. This book chapter provides a critical overview of pressure-driven membrane processes (microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) for the treatment of textile wastewater. Finally, this chapter covers the treatment and disposal of retentate and MBR sludge.

Otpadne vode tekstilne industrije pripadaju kategoriji najjače onečišćenih industrijskih otpadnih voda te su posebna opasnost za vodeni okoliš. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati membransku učinkovitost zadržavanja bojila iz tekstilne otpadne vode (TOV) s komercijalnim ultrafiltracijskim (UF) membranama (GH, GK, PT, PU, PW, MW) širokog područja graničnih molekulskih masa (MWCO), od 2 do 50 kDa. Testirane UF membrane rezultirale su smanjenjem obojenja i intenziteta obojenja od 56,35 % do 97,93 %. Membrane nižih MWCO vrijednosti (ispod 3 kDa) mogu se smatrati prikladnim za uklanjanje bojila iz realnog uzorka TOV-a.

Pesticides and their transformation products migrate through environmental compartments, contaminating soil, air, and water. Because of their stability and low biodegradability, their presence in groundwater poses a high risk to human health. This study investigated the removal of atrazine and its transformation products from groundwater using nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, with the aim of selecting the more suitable membrane for drinking water production. Reverse osmosis showed better removal of atrazine and its transformation products than nanofiltration due to its lower molecular weight cut-off, i.e., smaller pore size. The removal of transformation products is lower than that of atrazine because of their lower molecular weight.

The textile industry is one of the largest consumers of water and producers of heavily polluted wastewater. The composition of textile wastewater (TWW) varies significantly depending on the production technologies and chemicals used and has a direct impact on the efficiency of membrane pressure processes such as ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis. In this paper, the main components of TWW and their effects on the performance of membrane systems are analyzed, with a particular focus on the mechanisms of membrane fouling and strategies to minimize negative effects. Understanding the interactions between specific wastewater constituents and membrane materials is crucial for optimizing treatment processes and extending membrane lifetime.