Microbiome

Characterisation and comparison of bacterial communities on reverse osmosis membranes of a full-scale desalination plant by bacterial 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding

PERTH, Australia – A benchmarking study has been carried out on the bacterial build up on reverse osmosis membranes at a full-scale desalination plant which could help prevent biofouling in future operations.

Murdoch University PhD student Veena Nagaraj examined the bacteria living on the membranes on 14 reverse osmosis units in the Perth seawater desalination plant in Rockingham after seven years of operation.

She then compared them to the unused units waiting in the plant for installation.

Before reaching the reverse osmosis membranes, the water has already gone through sand filtration, micro-filtration and chemical treatment to try to remove the bacteria/

Nagaraj said: “My study showed that although this pre-treatment wiped out lots of the contaminating bacteria, this just cleared away the competition for a few species to thrive in this environment.”

The study found that there were a few groups of Proteobacteria, which had the characteristics to help them to start the biofouling community on the membrane.

A new study by a Murdoch researcher may help keep desalination plants flowing

first benchmarking study of the bacterial build up on the filtration membranes of a full-scale desalination plant.

This problem, known as biofouling, is estimated to cost the worldwide industry US$15 billion each year.

Ms Veena examined the bacteria living on the membranes on 14 reverse osmosis units in the Perth seawater Desalination Plant in Rockingham after seven years of operation and compared them to the unused units waiting in the plant for installation.

This was the first ever study to examine the bacterial communities present on the unused membranes. The study has been published in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes.

Ms Veena said that there was a marked difference between the bacterial communities of the biofouled and the unused.

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