Membrane Enhancement for Wastewater Treatment

A method of removing contaminants from wastewater, the method comprising:

• providing the wastewater including contaminants to a biological reactor including bacteria;
• pumping the wastewater from the biological reactor into a chemical reaction tank;
• adding a chemical additive to the chemical reaction tank;
• pumping the wastewater from the chemical reaction tank to a membrane separation system with the membrane separation system outputting a permeate and a retentate, a first portion of the retentate being provided to the biological reactor and a second portion of the retentate being provided to the chemical reaction tank, the second portion mixing the contents of the chemical reaction tank.

A mixture treatment system configured to treat a mixture having target molecules and a fluid, the system comprising:

• a biological reactor containing bacteria, the biological reactor being configured to receive the mixture, the bacteria being configured to remove target molecules from solution;
• a chemical reaction tank;
• a first conduit connecting the biological reactor to the chemical reaction tank;
• a first pump configured to pump the mixture through the first conduit from the biological reactor to a chemical reaction tank, the chemical reaction tank being configured to receive a chemical additive;
• a membrane separation system configured to separate solid target molecules from the fluid;
• a second conduit connecting the chemical reaction tank to the membrane separation system;
• a third conduit connecting the membrane separation system to the biological reactor;
• a fourth conduit connecting the membrane separation system to the chemical reaction tank;
• and
• a second pump configured to pump the mixture from the chemical reaction tank to the membrane separation system, to pump treated permeate from the membrane separation system, and to pump retentate from the membrane separation system;
• wherein the retentate from the membrane separation system is divided into a first portion that returns to the chemical reaction tank through the fourth conduit and a second portion that returns to the biological reactor and wherein the system includes a chemical additive source configured to add a chemical additive to the chemical reaction tank, the first portion of the retentate mixing the chemical additive, the mixture pumped from the biological reactor to the chemical reaction tank, the first portion of the retentate, and the contents of the chemical reaction tank.