Practical experiences from membrane filtration plants for humic substance removal

Humic substances are high molecular weight, organic molecules that give the water a yellow/brownish colour. They are normally removed from water by co agulation. During the last 10 years around 70 membrane filtration plants fo r drinking water supply have been built in Norway. The paper outlines the b asic design of these plants and gives information on choice of membrane, tr eatment efficiency, membrane flux, membrane fouling, membrane cleaning and disposal of wastes as well as general operating experiences. It is conclude d that the owners of the membrane filtration plants are quite satisfied and that the method will be used in increasingly larger plants.