Removal of bisphenol A (BPA) from water by various nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes

Abstract

The removal of an endocrine disrupting compound, bisphenol A (BPA), from model solutions by selected nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes was studied. The commercially available membranes NF 90, NF 270, XLE BWRO, BW 30 (Dow FilmTech), CE BWRO and AD SWRO (GE Osmonics) were used to compare their performances for BPA removal. The water permeability coefficients, rejection of BPA and permeate flux values were calculated for all membranes used. No significant changes in their BPA removal were observed for all tight polyamide based NF and RO membranes tested except for loose NF 270 membrane. The polyamide based membranes exhibited much better performance than cellulose acetate membrane for BPA removal. Almost a complete rejection (≥ 98%) for BPA was obtained with three polyamide based RO membranes (BW 30, XLE BWRO and AD SWRO). But cellulose acetate based CE BWRO membrane offered a low and variable (10-40%) rejection for BPA.

Keywords: Bisphenol A (BPA); Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs); Membrane processes; Nanofiltration (NF); Reverse osmosis (RO); Water.