Feasibility and Practicability of Magnetophoretic‐Augmented Composite Membrane in Treating Polluted River Water: Real Case Application

River water is a complex water system consisting of various foulants with different properties that affects the membrane removal efficiency as well as the fouling propensity. Present work aims to demonstrate the feasibility of an in‐house developed ultrafiltration (UF) magnetophoretic‐augmented composite (MAC) membrane in treating polluted river water for drinkable water production. Permeation and rejection performances of the commercial UF and UF MAC membranes were compared using cross‐flow recirculation unit. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, and porometer analyses confirmed the end‐caped of magnetite colloids onto the surface of neat microfiltration (MF) polyethersulfone (PES) membrane. The laid magnetite layer on the surface of MF PES membrane has transformed it into UF MAC membrane. The commercial UF membrane suffered from greater amount of flux decline (27% of the initial flux) as compared with that of the developed UF MAC membrane (8% flux decline from the initial flux), after 48 h of filtration. Filtrates from both of the commercial UF and UF MAC membranes achieved the minimum requirement of local drinking‐water quality standards. The UF MAC membrane proved to effectively suppressed membrane fouling without jeopardizing the membrane rejection performances. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13146, 2019