Membrane fouling studies would pave way for the modification or removal of problematic organic fraction(s) so as to minimize fouling. Coagulation prior to membrane filtration is used to transform the dispersed particles and other inorganic and/or organic water contaminants in stable suspension into a preferable form for retention, aimed at minimizing particulate and NOM fouling. The intended presentation talks on the background, idea, methods used and results of experiments on the fouling characteristics of different membrane configurations and that of the NOM-fractions as well as the optimisation of the coupling of coagulation+membrane processes to reduce NOM fouling. Out-ln membranes with different pore sizes and material composition supplied by the German company Puron AG are used for the experiments. They are all made of standard PES and mixture of PES and another polymer, with pore sizes ranging from MF to UF. Bulk surface water from a reservoir at Roetgen, near Aachen, which is supposed to have a relatively high organic content is to be used as the model water. Ground waters from deep-well filtration, which are normally particle-free and those containing high NOM are also considered as alternative model waters. The laboratory setup used for the coagulation+membrane filtration experiments is a simple modified "jar-test" apparatus, with three feed-tanks followed by a membrane that could be used to test different coagulation and filtration conditions.

Key words: Fouling Minimization, NOM, Model Solutions, Membrane Capillaries, Hybrid Coagulation-UF/MF process