摘要：The ultimate aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of the membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology for wastewater reuse in Saudi Arabia. Treatment performance and economy as well as environmental aspects were taken into account. Investigations conducted at a pilot scale MBR plant revealed excellent organics, nutrients and pathogen removal performances irrespective of the applied Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS) concentrations and Hydraulic Retention Times (HRT) without encountering severe membrane fouling. This study also provides an in-depth comparison of the MBR process with application of membrane technology following conventional activated sludge process. During this comparison economical aspects were discussed based on literature reports, while environmental aspects were elucidated by means of a simple Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The EIA revealed that MBR poses lesser negative impacts on environment as compared to the alternative option (magnitude of negative impact being 46 and 101, respectively).The analyses presented in this paper as a whole manifest the superiority of Membrane Bioreactor technology over the available alternatives in the context of Saudi Arabia.
