AWWA ACE58198

One of the greatest problems associated with membrane processes is the loss of productivity due to biofouling. Currently, biofouling is detected by monitoring progressive flux losses, which is an after-the-fact practice with respect to this phenomenon. One of the greatest challenges for water treatment membrane operations is the development of non-invasive methods that allow for early biofilm detection prior to irreversible macroscale flux losses, which could extend membrane life and may help reduce operation and maintenance costs. This paper presents a novel, non-invasive technique using ultrasonic frequency-domain reflectometry (UFDR), to detect biofilms on polyamide membrane coupons and polycarbonate slides. This is a variation of a technique previously reported to detect mineral scaling on RO membranes, which holds promise for real-time biofilm detection in full-scale membranes. Includes 10 references, figures.