AWWA MTC64595

This study addresses the possibility for nanofiltration (NF) membrane processes to serve as an alternative to remove low levels of selected antibiotics from surface waters and wastewaters given changing water conditions such as pH. Preliminary results from bench-scale cross-flow filtration tests suggest that antibiotic rejection is highly dependent on membrane pore size as well as changes in pH due to varying electrostatic interactions between the charged antibiotics and the membrane surface. The extended Nernst-Planck model was applied to further understand the size-exclusion and electrostatic mechanisms behind the observed experimental data. Includes 19 references, table, figures.