Wastewater reuse by means of UF membrane process: a comparison with Italian provisions

Membrane filtration can represent a valid solution to water scarcity. In this paper, a study has been carried out about water reuse aimed to industrial and agricultural purposes, starting from a real wastewater coming from Ponte Rosarolo plant located in the Centre of Italy. Wastewater has been treated by means of ultrafiltration membrane process. Results obtained have shown that permeate flux meets provisions in terms of drain water species concentration stated by Italian regulation (D.Lgs 152/99), but there are still unsolved problems as for water reuse limits (D.M. 15/2003): particularly, a final disinfection stage seems to be necessary to lower the value of coliforms content to 0.