Fouling mitigation in membrane processes

Membranes have become one of the most sought-after techniques in separation processes. They are used in various industries and plants such as desalination, water purification and wastewater treatment plants. There has been a great degree of advancement in development of membrane systems; the bottleneck remaining is the fouling of membranes. A workshop on fouling mitigation processes was recently coordinated as a joint effort by several organizations attracting various groups from the five continents and presenting and discussing recent initiatives in this area. The topics were mostly related to desalting and associated inorganic and possible biofouling. Recent and ongoing techniques were discussed and a road map for future research directions in this area was set forward. This paper reviews information presented in this workshop; it aims to provide updated information (current activities and the future work required) in this area on the topic of wide concern -- the problem of fouling mitigation.