Date of Award

Fall 12-12-2025

Degree Type

Publishable Paper

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Environmental Engineering

Committee Chair

Naim Rashid

First Advisor

Kumar Ganesan

Second Advisor

Amy Kuenzi

Abstract

Access to clean drinking water is a global concern. Existing water filtration technologies require high energy and chemical inputs. They generate a large volume of waste and are not always readily available. This limitation has given rise to the development of sustainable water filtration technologies. This study focused on developing a biodegradable Microbial Cellulose Membrane (MCM) made of bacterial cellulose that is capable of treating a wide variety of pollutants present in environmental water sources. To improve MCM properties for high flux and contaminants removal, they were pre-treated with NaOH (0.25 M). The effect of transmembrane pressure and membrane thickness on flux and contaminants removal was investigated. The water was collected from three different sources from Silver Bow County, Montana including Silver Bow Creek, Basin Creek, and simulated Butte groundwater samples. The MCMs were operated at a pressure range of 69-276 kPa (10-40 psi), which is comparable with industrial ultrafiltration membrane systems that require a typical pressure of 200 to 500 kPa. MCMs of different thicknesses, ranging from 1.25-2.25 mm, were tested. A maximum flux of 950 L/m2/h was achieved at 276 kPa using an MCM with a thickness of 1.5 mm. MCMs demonstrated a microbial removal efficiency of between 96% - 100%. MCMs were not able to remove metals and anions present in the water. Flux test results showed the MCM flux rates (350-950 L/m2/h) exceeded that of commercial UF membranes (85-340 L/m2/h) while operating at lower pressures. Future work will focus on improving MCM surface properties to retain salts and metals.

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