A special lecture on “Application of a hybrid Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR) system to treat priority pollutants from agricultural runoffs” will be delivered by Prof. K. Baskaran, Associate Dean (International), Faculty of Science and Technology, Chair in Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Deakin University, Australia on 21 June 2011. The lecture being organized by the Environmental Engineering and Management (EEM) field of study in AIT’s School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD) will be delivered in Room E-206 from 10.00-11.00 hours.
Prof. Baskaran is an EEM alumnus (1988).
Abstract: Agricultural discharge containing priority pollutants to natural water bodies poses a significant threat to the marine ecosystem. The lecture evaluates the performance of a hybrid treatment system consists of a membrane bioreactor (MBR), Ultra Violet disinfection unit and a Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) column in treating Ametryn which is one of the major herbicides in agricultural discharges. While the MBR alone removes 40 per cent of Ametryn at a hydraulic retention time of 7.8 hours, the hybrid system removed Ametryn to below detection levels. Recent development in MBR and its application in water recovery in urban areas will also be covered in this topic.