Membrane bioreactors for wastewater reclamation: Cost analysis

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology offers several advantages compared to the conventional wastewater treatment plants (CAS: conventional activated sludge) but also some disadvantages. Both advantages and disadvantages have implications for capital and operational costs. Therefore, the present chapter illustrates data from literature on costs for MBR and CAS. A comparison of such costs is also presented to assess the feasibility of the MBR for wastewater reclamation.The results obtained show that both capital costs (CAPEX) and operation and maintainance costs (OPEX) for MBR may be similar to those reported for CAS with tertiary treatment. A huge variability of CAPEX and OPEX, however, have been observed in the literature. Such variation depends on the design, management, and cost of the membranes. Since the purchase cost of the membranes has lowered in the last years, such reduction could improve the feasibility of MBR plants. Furthermore, the novel technology for membrane production and management (e.g., fouling control) as well as for process control (e.g., real-time monitoring) may help to optimize the operating conditions and, in turn, reduce the OPEX of MBR.Since municipal wastewater reclamation and reuse will play a major role in the future, commitment of MBR plants is expected to increase in the civil market.