A nuisance compound commonly encountered in groundwater supplies is hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which causes an unpleasant rotten-egg smell in water at concentrations as
low as 0.05 ppm. Treatment strategies for H2S removal often consist of air stripping and
oxidation. Since hydrogen sulfide is a reactive gas, the aeration process will only remove
that portion of the H2S that is in the gaseous state. One method of removing the
remaining fraction of sulfide is by the conversion of sulfide to insoluble elemental sulfur
by oxidation. Once oxidized, the colloidal sulfur causes high levels of turbidity (>20
NTU), which must be removed by a subsequent solid-liquid separation step.
The use of microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes for municipal water
treatment has traditionally been limited to high quality surface water sources. Despite the
recent significant increase in the acceptance and application of both MF and UF
membrane systems in North America, UF and MF membranes have typically not been
applied on waters having an average turbidity level greater than 20 NTU without
extensive pretreatment. The application of membranes at water treatment plants with
moderate to poor quality raw water has generally been limited to either settled or filtered
water for polishing treatment. The application of membranes for groundwater treatment
has also been limited due to the relatively high water quality of groundwater with respect
to turbidity and microbiological parameters. The promulgation of increasingly stringent
regulations for groundwater under the direct influence of surface water (GWUDI) has
resulted in increased interest in membrane filtration for the treatment of groundwater
sources.
Recent advances in the configuration and application of immersed membrane systems
offers an opportunity to economically apply UF membranes to treat groundwater
containing high turbidity caused by elemental sulfur on a large scale without
conventional pretreatment. This can be accomplished using a combined treatment
process in which vacuum driven, hollow fiber membranes are directly immersed in
coagulated and flocculated raw water. The membranes provide a positive barrier to
parasites such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium, as well as high concentrations of both
organic and inorganic solids, which are either suspended in the raw water or developed
by coagulation and co-precipitation. This integrated coagulation/membrane process
eliminates the need for sedimentation and rapid gravity sand filtration and is not
negatively impacted by high turbidity levels. In addition to turbidity and pathogen
reduction, the process can also be optimized for iron, manganese, color and TOC
reduction.
This paper presents the application of immersed ultrafiltration membranes with
enhanced coagulation downstream of aeration and oxidation processes for the removal of
hydrogen sulfide from groundwater. It will also present pilot scale data of the ZeeWeed
Immersed Membrane System, evaluating the effect of different operating parameters such
as flux, pH and coagulant dose on permeate water quality and membrane performance.
Includes 6 references, tables, figures.