Surface water treatment by custom-made mobile water treatment system

Advances in membrane technology have stimulated a growing interest in the development of mobile water treatment systems for rural areas lacking clean water access. This study explored the use of ultrafiltration hollow fibre (UF-HF) membranes as a filter medium in a mobile water system for surface water treatment. Prior to the surface water treatment operation, two types of UF-HF modules were prepared using different numbers of fibres (i.e. 15 and 30 fibres). By considering the effect of turbidity on the membrane permeate flux, it was found that the 30-fibre module performed with higher consistency than the module with 15 fibres within the same range of turbidity. It was observed that the specific permeate flux decreased gradually with operation time and that, simultaneously, specific permeate flux was governed by transmembrane pressure and feed water temperature. Consequently, the filtered water production was found to decrease with time. The UF-HF membrane module demonstrated good surface water treatment efficiency for a smaller-scale filter modul

Coagulation/flocculation of anaerobically treated palm oil mill effluent (AnPOME): A review

Inefficiency of palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment cause considerable environmental problems including from aesthetic point of view and inhibits the growth of the desirable aquatic biota necessary for surface water self-purification. Due to its low operating cost, anaerobic digestion of palm oil mill effluent (POME) is widely accepted by the managers, yet the colour of treated effluent (AnPOME) turned to dark brown. In this paper, the colourants in the AnPOME and its possible treatments have been reviewed with greater emphasis was put on coagulation/flocculation method. Application of anionic polymer as pre-treatment for integrated system has been shown to be necessary for sustainable AnPOME treatment including its sludge disposal. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Optimizing fabrication of electrospinning nanofiber membranes for water filtration using response surface methodology

Nanofiber Polyethersulfone (PES) membrane fabrication using the electrospinning method incorporating dry/wet phase inversion was investigated. The electrospinning process is a straightforward and versatile method to produce one-dimensional nanostructures, especially nanofibers. The electrospun’s outcome can be affected by the various process parameters and solution parameters, making it an interesting study subject and an opportunity for customized nanofiber membrane. In this work, the analysis includes dope formulation and electrospinning parameter influence to membrane morphology dimensional structure based on Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and filtration capability. Fibrous membranes were electrospun at 1 to 3 ml/h feeding rate and at 12 to 25kV voltage rate in a fixed 10 to 12 cm distance between the filter membrane and the syringe needle tip. The PES dope solution with N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as solvent electrospun onto a wet filter base membrane (5A 90 mm Advantec Filter Paper) to refine the fabricated fibrous membrane and to induce the dry-wet phase inversion process. The results indicate that the PES fiber dimension reduced at a lower feeding rate and higher voltage rate. In terms of liquid separation performance, experimental results showed that pure water permeation flux was reduced with the increased flow spinning rate of 1 to 3ml/hr but triple times higher than the increased concentration PES formulation, even at higher voltage spinning. The electrospun performance of polyethersulfone was also explained using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). It focused on the polymer content, tip-to-collector distance, and flow rate parameters toward fiber diameter and contact angle. Among these factors, the effect of PES content (f-value = 65.87) was the most significant, followed by tip-to-collector distance (f-value = 11.26) and flow rate (f-value = 2.59)

Effects of pressure and temperature on ultrafiltration hollow fiber membrane in mobile water treatment system

In Sabah, Malaysia, there are still high probability of limited clean water access in rural area and disaster site. Few villages had been affected in Pitas due to improper road access, thus building a water treatment plant there might not be feasible. Recently, Kundasang area had been affected by earthquake that caused water disruption to its people due to the damage in the underground pipes and water tanks. It has been known that membrane technology brought ease in making mobile water treatment system that can be transported to rural or disaster area. In this study, hollow fiber membrane used in a mobile water treatment system due to compact and ease setup. Hollow fiber membrane was fabricated into small module at 15 and 30 fibers to suit the mobile water treatment system for potable water production of at least 80 L/day per operation. The effects of transmembrane pressure (TMP) and feed water temperature were investigated. It was found that permeate flux increases by more than 96% for both 15 and 30 fiber bundles with increasing pressure in the range of 0.25 to 3.0 bar but dropped when the pressure reached maximum. Lower temperature of 17 to 18˚C increase the water viscosity by 15% from normal temperature of water at 24˚C, making the permeate flux decreases. The fabricated modules effectively removed 96% turbidity of the surface water sample tested

Application of linear moments and uncertainty analysis to extreme rainfall events in Sabah

Linear moments (LM) has been applied in extreme rainfall study for several countries, including China, United States of America, and Peninsular Malaysia. In this study, the LM procedures were applied to extreme rainfall data corresponding to locations provided in Malaysia Urban Stromwater Manual (MSMA) to derive new design rainfalls. Different record lengths were considered to assess the changes in design rainfall, and Monte Carlo simulations were carried out to compute confidence interval of the derived design rainfalls. Based on the Goodness-of-Fit (GoF) test results, the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) probability distribution was chosen to derive the design rainfalls. The updated design rainfalls at all four locations showed significant reduction at design rainfalls of 50-year ARI and above. The difference of the design rainfalls from shorter record lengths with respect to the full record length and the confidence intervals do not necessarily reduce with a longer record. In hypothetical cases where 100-yr ARI rainfall was added, the increase in design rainfalls did not exceed the upper bound of the confidence intervals. The derived confidence intervals hence allow for better risk assessment, and should be considered in the design of critical structures, i.e. dams

Exploration Involving the Community in Upgrading Water Intake in Kampung Bongol, Tamparuli, Sabah, Malaysia

This research highlights the project of upgrading a water supply system for a rural area in Kampung Bongol, Tamparuli, Sabah, Malaysia. This village is approximately 60 km from Kota Kinabalu town centre and takes about two hours to drive. Despite far access to the main water distribution pipeline, it is also a geographical challenge surrounded by mountains. However, the village is primarily situated near the existing catchment area. The previously developed setup for the community water distribution in this village is a traditional method using improper tools, systems, and facilities, which potentially causes water shortage issues for the villagers, especially during drought. To overcome this problem, a sustainable design of a mini dam and the usage of a ramp pump to distribute water were designed and built in this study. Combining these two elements can fulfill the storage distribution tank in a short time and supply clean water to the residents. Moreover, the 2-inch Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ramp pump in this study has reduced the operational cost and zero-emission fuel, making this design practical and sustainable with the aid of the villagers. Despite a tight financial source and locality design technical revision implementation, this upgrading water project was accomplished within 4 months with community direct involvement. At the end of this project, the water distribution network using the designed system is successfully installed and supply water to the 200 villagers

Exploration Involving the Community in Upgrading Water Intake in Kampung Bongol, Tamparuli, Sabah, Malaysia

This research highlights the project of upgrading a water supply system for a rural area in Kampung Bongol, Tamparuli, Sabah, Malaysia. This village is approximately 60 km from Kota Kinabalu town centre and takes about two hours to drive. Despite far access to the main water distribution pipeline, it is also a geographical challenge surrounded by mountains. However, the village is primarily situated near the existing catchment area. The previously developed setup for the community water distribution in this village is a traditional method using improper tools, systems, and facilities, which potentially causes water shortage issues for the villagers, especially during drought. To overcome this problem, a sustainable design of a mini dam and the usage of a ramp pump to distribute water were designed and built in this study. Combining these two elements can fulfill the storage distribution tank in a short time and supply clean water to the residents. Moreover, the 2-inch Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ramp pump in this study has reduced the operational cost and zero-emission fuel, making this design practical and sustainable with the aid of the villagers. Despite a tight financial source and locality design technical revision implementation, this upgrading water project was accomplished within 4 months with community direct involvement. At the end of this project, the water distribution network using the designed system is successfully installed and supply water to the 200 villagers

Feasibility Study of Rainwater Harvesting in Universiti Malaysia Sabah's Residential Colleges in support of the Eco-Campus Initiative

This study highlights the findings from a preliminary feasibility investigation in proposing rainwater harvesting systems in Universiti Malaysia Sabah, in support of the Eco-Campus initiative. Since its inception on 7 th February 2013, the initiative strives to promote the blend of campus development and ecological sustainability. Hence, in line with this aspiration, rooftop rainwater harvesting (a form of green infrastructure) is introduced to selected residential colleges in the campus and assessed for its potential in supplying untreated water for non-consumptive activity as well as in reducing the water bill. For the purpose of rainwater tank design, the roof catchment area is needed to estimate the tank size, which then be multiplied with the average annual rainwater yield from the nearest rainfall gauging station. The percentage of water yield over rainwater demand is then calculated to estimate how much does the harvested rainwater could cater the water demand of the consumers. The water bill saving is calculated by multiplying the latest water tariff and the volume of the harvested rainwater, while the water demand is approximated by multiplying the number of users in the colleges with the average water use per person. The supply-demand assessment is performed to determine the potential impact of rainwater harvesting system installation in replacing paid, treated water for non-potable use in these premises. It is hoped by promoting green infrastructures in the campus to conserve natural resources as presented in this study aids the university in achieving its sustainable campus status by the year 2018