MBR Wastewater Treatment Plants

Comprehensive wastewater treatment plants utilizing membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology are designed for advanced treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater.

MBR technology combines biological treatment and membrane filtration within a single integrated process.

Simply put:

conventional treatment plants separate treated liquid from activated sludge using gravity,
while MBR systems perform this separation at the micron level using membrane filtration.

This is why comprehensive wastewater treatment plants based on MBR technology are capable of producing effluent of significantly higher quality.

Such systems are used where the following requirements are critical:

• high treatment efficiency
• water reuse capability
• compact plant footprint
• stable technological operation

MBR plants represent one of the most advanced solutions in the field of biological wastewater treatment.

The process operates according to a sequential treatment scheme.

Initially, wastewater passes through:

• mechanical treatment
• biological treatment in the aeration tank

After that, the flow enters the MBR tank, where the key separation process occurs.

Membrane elements perform selective filtration:

• treated water passes through the porous membrane material
• activated sludge and contaminants remain inside the bioreactor

The membrane pore size ranges from 0.001 to 1 micrometer.

This allows the system to retain:

• bacteria
• suspended solids
• colloidal particles
• the majority of organic pollutants

As a result, the washout of activated sludge from the system is completely eliminated.

This enables the bioreactor to operate at a higher biomass concentration, significantly increasing the efficiency of biological oxidation.

MEMBRANE MODULES

Various membrane configurations are used in MBR systems:

Hollow fiber membranes
commonly used for microfiltration and ultrafiltration processes.

Plate membrane modules
applied in systems with high concentrations of suspended solids.

Spiral-wound membranes
used in nanofiltration technologies.

Modern membranes are manufactured from advanced materials such as:

• cellulose acetate
• hydrophilic polysulfone
• polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
• other high-performance polymer composites

MBR membrane elements are assembled into modules connected to:

• pumping systems
• pneumatic aeration systems
• backwashing systems

Aeration performs two critical functions:

• supports the biological treatment process
• cleans the membrane surface from accumulated contaminants.

The application of MBR technology in wastewater treatment plants provides several significant advantages:

High-quality treated effluent
The treated water can meet strict discharge standards or be reused for industrial purposes.

Compact plant design
MBR facilities require significantly smaller construction volumes and land areas compared to conventional systems.

Energy efficiency
Modern systems are designed for optimized power consumption.

Operational reliability
MBR systems offer stable performance and simple operational control.

Comprehensive wastewater treatment plants using MBR technology are applied for treatment of wastewater from:

• industrial enterprises
• dairy and cheese production plants
• textile manufacturing facilities
• poultry farms and agricultural complexes
• food processing industries
• surface runoff and stormwater systems

Such systems are particularly effective where maximum treatment efficiency is required within limited installation space.