Membrane bioreactor technology for the treatment of greywater from a sports and leisure club

Especially in the Mediterranean region water is a scarce resource and new approaches to water supply need to be focused. An important contribution can be realised by greywater recycling in decentralised structures. This paper describes the results of a technical feasibility study to treat greywater with membrane technology in view of its reuse for applications which do not require potable water quality. A 3L-lab-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating the shower effluent from a sports club in Rabat, Morocco, was operated with a hollow fibre membrane (Zeeweed, Zenon) for 137 consecutive days. Removal performance and membrane behaviour were assessed. The permeate was of excellent quality and complied with commonly proposed standards for domestic reuse except for bacterial contamination. Non-detectable levels of faecal coliform could not be continuously guaranteed due to bacterial re-growth in the permeate pipe from the open permeate storage tank.