One-Step Civil Drinking Water Treatment with a Ceramic Nanofilter – Pilot Test

Conventional municipal water treatment typically requires multiple sequential processes, including coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection. Recent advances in nanostructured ceramic membranes present the potential to achieve potable water quality in a single filtration step. This study evaluates the performance of a ceramic nanofilter with a nominal pore size of <1 nm for direct production of drinking water from raw surface water sources. Laboratory- and pilot-scale tests demonstrated effective removal of turbidity, UV254, total phosphorus, ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen, total hardness, and total dissolved solids, while maintaining stable permeate flux under low transmembrane pressures. The results indicate that ceramic nanofiltration can consistently produce high-quality drinking water. It required no maintenance and maintained excellent operational stability throughout a continuous 60-day pilot run. Compared with conventional polymeric ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis membranes, the ceramic nanofilter exhibited significant advantages, delivering superior water quality without the need for chemical pretreatment or backwashing. This approach simplifies treatment infrastructure, reduces operational costs, and provides a robust, long-life alternative for decentralized and municipal water supply systems.