Membrane Filtration Evolution - From Formulation to Application to Form-Factor
Mr. Paul Gagliardo
Founder and Host
The Water Entrepreneur, US
Speaker Bio
Mr. Paul Gagliardo, MPH, PE, is an independent consultant assisting and advising innovative water sector startup companies. He has held leadership positions in the water and wastewater business for over 30 years at the city of San Diego, American Water and multi-national consulting companies. Paul has been a judge for the Imagine H2O Accelerator since its inception in 2009. He is a registered engineer in the state of California and has a Master’s Degree in Public Health. He is also the host of The Water Entrepreneur podcast.
Presentation time
December 3, 2025
8:10 am - 8:25am EST
Abstract
The first practical synthetic semi-permeable membranes were developed in the 1950’s from cellulose acetate. A major leap occurred in the 1970s with the invention of Thin-Film Composite (TFC) membranes, which offered superior performance, durability, and energy efficiency, becoming the industry standard.
Today RO membranes are formulated from ceramic materials, use electricity to reduce scaling, and are being biomimicry developed using aquaporins. System flux, recovery rate and salt rejection are increasing and operating pressure, scaling, fouling and cost of production are decreasing.
Low pressure membranes such as microfiltration and ultrafiltration were developed in the 1920’s and became commercially available in the 1960’s. The introduction of crossflow filtration during the 1970s provided an alternative to the "dead-end" or "in-line" process and allowed for greater efficiency in large-scale operations. Initially used in the industrial and medical sectors they are now widely used for water and wastewater treatment.
Advances in membrane technology enabled operators to develop systems that can cost-effectively recycle water in industrial and municipal applications. New system designs encourage circularity not only by reusing water but also by permitting the recovery of materials such as nutrients and metals from waste streams and upcycling this material. New filtration technology will continue this trend and make sewer mining the norm.
This presentation will review the evolution of membrane development and some of the new technologies that are being developed today.