Fate of dissolved organic matter and byproducts generated from on-line chemical cleaning with sodium hypochlorite in MBR

On-line chemical cleaning with sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) has been extensively practiced for maintaining the stable permeability of membrane bioreactor (MBR), during which activated sludge is inevitably exposed to NaClO. The authors previously reported the NaClO-induced generation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and halogenated byproducts, however their fate in terms of biodegradability and removability in MBR has been unknown. Therefore, this study investigated the removal mechanisms of generated DOM and byproducts in an aerobic MBR. It was found that about 39% of DOM produced was removed through biodegradation and membrane rejection. The fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) coupled with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) also revealed that protein-like substances were more readily biodegradable than humic-like substances. Moreover, 25 kinds of chlorinated and brominated byproducts were detected after the contact of biomass with NaClO by ultra performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, while nine of which were confirmed with standard compounds. 62.4–84.5% halogenated byproducts were ended up in permeate of MBR chemically cleaned with 5–20 mg/L of NaClO. This study raises a serious concern on reusing and recycling of such MBR permeate.