| Abstract |
Phosphorous (P) is one of the major nutrients (next to nitrogen) contributing in the increased eutrophication of natural waters, that is, rivers and lakes. One of the major inputs of anthropogenic P is caused by the discharge of municipal and industrial wastewater with high P concentration. Therefore, the control of P discharged from treatment plants plays a key role in preventing eutrophication of surface waters. Removal of P from wastewater can be made with the use of the conventional methods, such as chemical precipitation and biological treatment. However, in previous recent years an increase in the application of membrane processes for this purpose has been observed. The work focuses on the critical review of the possibilities in the removal of P from selected wastewater using membrane techniques such as microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), forward osmosis (FO), and their combination with other treatment methods. The removal rates of total phosphorus (TP) in the processes of MF UF, NF, and FO could reach 34%, 26%, 97%, and 99.7%, respectively. The usage of pretreatment causes an increase in the efficiency rate of TP up to 98.1% for coagulation-MF, 96.7% for biological treatment-UF, and 98% for MBR-NF. The removal rates of PO 4 3-may reach up to 11% for MF, 99% for UF, 100% for NF, 91% for MF-NF, 99.7% for MF-softening, and 98% for OMBR (FO). The removal of phosphorus from wastewater in membrane processes is highly effective and can contribute to the prevention of eutrophication. Moreover, the P retained at the purification stage could be further processed, for example, initially recycled, and then used, for example, for fertilizing purposes. It is in the line with the principles of the circular economy (CE) model, which promotes the recovery of raw materials from wastes. |