Resumen
Due to several factors caused by urban and industrial growth worldwide, water supply problems have become increasingly complex, with difficult and costly solutions. The use of membrane filters is one of the newest unit operation options being incorporated into the water and sewage treatment process. This work involves the study of the production of a polymeric asymmetric porous membrane to be used in the removal of possible abiotic or biological contaminants remaining after the post-treatment of drinking water, as well as the assessment of the membrane life span. The phase inversion process was used to produce the membrane, using a polymer solution consisting of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and NN-Dimethylformamide as a solvent. KCl salts were incorporated as additive, and a polyester polypropylene sheet was used as support. The membrane was tested in a transverse flow module. The tests demonstrated that the membrane presented an effective barrier to abiotic contaminants, with an average flux of 342 kg h-1 m-2 and life span of 48h, as well as to biologic contaminants such as Escherichia coli.