Two Water Institute members recently attended, and participated in, the 8th IWA Membrane Technology Conference and Exhibition (IWA-MTC) for Water and Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in Singapore. The 8th IWA-MTC brought together scientists and application engineers, providing a unique platform for professionals in the membrane community to connect and exchange knowledge. Wayne Parker, professor in Waterloo’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was invited as a plenary speaker, and Peter Huck, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Water Treatment and professor in Waterloo’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was invited as a session keynote speaker. Both delivered innovative presentations on their respective research in the field of water-related membrane technology.
“This conference provided an excellent opportunity for researchers and practitioners to discuss a variety of issues related to the use of membrane technologies to solve real-world problems,” said Parker. “The technical program was of high quality as the themes of the conference addressed the development and application of membrane technologies for wastewater and drinking water treatment, and desalination.”
Membrane technology can play a major role in producing high-quality drinking water, and in overcoming water shortage challenges faced by many regions through water reuse and desalination applications. Tremendous achievements have been made in the field of membrane technology for water and wastewater treatment over the past two decades.
Parker, who has a particular interest in nutrient recovery from wastewater, spoke about the application of anaerobic membrane bioreactors as a potentially sustainable approach to municipal wastewater treatment and resource recovery.
“Our research group has emphasized the use of authentic municipal wastewaters, rigorous control of operating conditions and the testing of conditions that are reflective of commercial operation of membrane bioreactors,” said Parker. “The results of the work provide information that is valuable to practitioners involved in designing and operating wastewater treatment plants.”
Huck, an internationally recognized expert in water treatment and who was also a member of the Scientific Committee, chaired and delivered a keynote presentation on membrane fouling mechanisms and control. His presentation entitled "Investigating biofiltration as a "green” and sustainable pre-treatment to reduce membrane fouling," summarized the work conducted or led by his Industrial Research Chair in recent years on this topic.
The IWA-MTC is a conference and exhibition series of the International Water Association (IWA) Specialist Group, “Membrane Technology.” This is one of the largest Specialist Groups inside IWA, covering the entire range of water-related membrane technology.