The reuse of treated sewage effluent (TSE) provides alternatives to existing freshwater supplies and can be used to enhance water security and sustainability.

According to the USEPA, TSE must be of sufficient quality to meet “fit-for-purpose specifications” for a particular next use. However, remaining traces of dissolved organics, color, odor, and other toxins often significantly limit reuse options. Multi-stage process steps increase the cost to achieve the needed quality and thus a reduced acceptance to implement comprehensive water recycling systems.

The removal of critical suspended solids, such as bacteria or microplastics, but also the targeted removal of dissolved solids can be achieved cost-effectively with CERAFILTEC’s Active Cake Layer Filtration (ACLF) process, which combines adsorption and ultrafiltration in a single treatment step.

Last week, CERAFILTEC commissioned another TSE reuse plant with a total capacity of 3,000 m³/d. On demand, powdered activated carbon is used as the adsorbent directly on the membrane surface during peak events to keep a constantly high TSE quality.