Use of cloth-media filter for membrane bioreactor treating municipal wastewater

► The cloth-media could be used for membrane bioreactor and produces low cost cloth-media MBR. ► System is easy to clean and mechanical cleaning is sufficient to recover flux rate to the original. ► Physico-chemically the cloth-media MBR provides effluent that meets Saudi and Egyptian standards for unrestricted irrigation ► The cloth-media MBR decreases faecal coliform by four logs and conditions the effluent for disinfection. This study evaluated three different textile materials (Acrylate, Polyester, and Nylon) as filter media for MBR treating municipal wastewater. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading rates were 1.71, 1.65 and 1.84g/ld while feed/microorganisms (F/M) ratios were 0.32, 0.31 and 0.33 in Reactor 1, Reactor 2 and Reactor 3, respectively. The actual hydraulic retention times were 8.6, 8.9 and 8.0h in R1, R2 and R3. At 5.3–5.5g/l mixed liquor suspended (MLSS) and 26.3days solid retention time (SRT) the membrane bioreactors were effective in removing 93–95% of COD, 99% of total suspended solids (TSS) and turbidity, 89–94% of total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and 90–96% of total ammonia nitrogen. Phosphorous removal was limited to 51–55% while faecal coliform was reduced by four logs. Quality of the treated effluents met both Saudi and Egyptian reuse standards for restricted irrigation and could be easily disinfected to meet the unrestricted irrigation standards.