Concentration and characterization of organic colloids in deep granitic groundwater using nanofiltration membranes for evaluating radionuclide transport

Aosai, Daisuke*; Saeki, Daisuke*; Iwatsuki, Teruki  ; Matsuyama, Hideto*

To analyze organic colloids in deep groundwater, concentration techniques using adsorption resins and reverse osmosis membranes have been widely applied, because their concentrations in deep groundwater are very low and detection of the organic colloids in raw groundwater is difficult. However, these techniques have respective disadvantages such as chemical disturbance and membrane fouling caused by cations. To overcome their disadvantages, we propose a new concentration method using nanofiltration membranes to concentrate organic colloids rapidly without chemical disturbance and to selectively remove monovalent and divalent ions, which may cause inorganic and/or organic fouling. Concentration performance of the NF and RO membranes for aqueous solutions for humic acids was evaluated using a laboratory-scale membrane test unit. The time course of permeate flux and concentration of humic acids were measured. These membranes were applied to the concentration of actual groundwater.