Biological fouling on membranes is a major problem in desalination and water purification plants. Oceanographers and limnologists have found that most marine and fresh waters are full of microscopic transparent exopolymer particles, otherwise known as TEP. In this article, aquatic microbiologist Tom Berman and Filtration Specialist Marina Holenberg (Amiad Filtration Systems, Amiad, Israel) propose that TEP in source waters is a prime factor leading to biofilm growth on membrane surfaces. Because TEP levels can be lowered by appropriate pre-filtration, they suggest measuring TEP concentrations to determine the efficiency of pre-filtration arrays upstream from membranes.

Reprinted with Permission from www.amiad.com