Membrane Filter for Water Filter

typically, it works without using any chemicals;

the membrane is semi-permeable i.e. certain substances or particles can go through the membrane and other substances are caught;

which substances can go through or cannot go through is depend on the pore size of the membrane;

substances or particles that have diameter bigger than the pore size will be trapped by the membrane, therefore size of the membrane pore is the factor determine what size of particles needs to be filtered;

types of membrane filtration based on the pore sizes are:

• micro-filtration – 0.1 micron
• ultra-filtration – 0.01 micron

other types of membrane filtration are:

• nano-filtration – 0.001 micron
• reverse osmosis – less than 0.001 micron, depends on the specific membrane manufacturer

membrane materials known, used for water filtration system are:

• polyethersulfone (PES)
• polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
• cellulose acetate (CA/CTA)

it can filter wide range of impurities, based on the pore size of membrane,

it can be used with combination with adsorbents for filtration of certain harmful chemicals that cannot be filtered by membrane filter alone or it is more cost effective to have larger pore membrane with having adsorbents to trap other chemicals,

microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis have the ability to filter bacteria, parasites, fungi and cysts,

it works without using chemicals to kill water borne pathogens,

compact design as a large membrane surface is fitted into a small volume.

clogging of membrane is likely to happen due to its small pore size

• the quality of incoming water i.e. tap water or water to be filtered
• quantity of water usage
• membrane type i.e. tubular membrane system or plate & frame membrane system
• membrane materials
• frequency and duration of flushing
• frequency and duration of backwash

cleaning of membrane using flushing and backwash process need large amount of water

chemical cleaning may be required