Filters filled with a micelle-clay complex mixed with sand were employed to investigate their purification capability of
tertiary treated wastewater with loose UF-membranes. The UF membrane was hollow fiber with a molecular weight cutoff of 100 kD.
The complex was prepared from the organic cation octadecyltrimethylammonium (ODTMA) and the negatively charged
clay-mineral, montmorillonite. This complex has a very large surface area, which includes large hydrophobic domains and is
positively charged, about half of the cation exchange capacity of the clay. Two sets of filtration experiments were carried out at flow
rates of 1.2 and 50 mL/min, which correspond to flow velocities of 3.7 and 153 cm/h, respectively. In the first case, after a passage of
1 L, the turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), fecal coliforms (FC), and total coliforms (TC) were reduced to zero from 14 NTU, 6 ppm, 350 and 10,000 counts per 100 mL, respectively. In the second case, the numbers of FC and TC were reduced from 50,000/100 mL to zero after the passage of 14 L. The values of COD and BOD were reduced several-fold. The conclusion is that the incorporation of micelle-clay filters in the sewage treatment system with loose tertiary capability is promising and warrants larger scale experiments for optimization of the overall system.