Why aren't Australian water corporations adopting MBR technology?

Motivation

As the drought-prone nature of Australia continues to be a growing concern, water scarcity urges the need for implementation of efficient wastewater treatment processes. Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) offer advantages over the conventional activated sludge (CAS) process, namely, to produce a higher quality effluent with a lower footprint. MBRs have been widely adopted overseas, however in Australia the utilisation of this technology has been relatively slow. It was hypothesised that negative perceptions of this technology by industry professionals in the wastewater industries have stemmed from first-generation features.

Approach

This study conducted a “mixed methods research”, which aimed to gauge the perceptions of this target demographic through a survey and an optional interview. The survey and interview results were compared to literature reports to determine whether participants were aware of recent advancements that address traditional concerns with the technology.

Figure 1: Industry perception of the barriers to implementation of MBR technology in Australia

Outcomes

Results were collected from a total of eleven corporations across Australia, with seventeen participants responding to the survey, and five consenting to a further interview. The most common perceived barriers to implementation of MBRs in Australia are “economic”, followed by “technical”, then “environmental”. Despite this, most participants have indicated that MBR is actively being considered for implementation at their corporations, particularly if they already use MBR at one or more of their plants. The study also found barriers to implementation due to high power consumption, lack of access to expertise, and need for high levels of operator knowledge. Recent and rapid advancements in MBR technology may improve its suitability for wider use in Australia particularly where the reported concerns have been addressed.