Abstract
The area based-society can be defined as a life base which is extended from the riverhead to the coastal zone.
Water, food and energy are inputted into it and wastewater, solid waste and air pollutants are outputted from it.
Water and wastewater occupy almost 100% in weight among them. In order to establish the sustainable metabolic
system in the area-based society, it is essential to develop the leading-edge water and wastewater treatment system
for the recycling use of water and the recovery of valuable resources such as phosphorous from the wastewater.
Membrane technology is a key in such a leading-edge technology. The membrane filtration has been applied to the
water purification and municipal wastewater treatment in EU and USA since early 1990s. In Japan, membrane filtration has been applied mainly to the water purification. But the portable water produced by the membrane filtration
process occupies only 1.0% of the total portable water production in Japan at this juncture.
The 3rd Science and Technology Basic Plan has started in April 2006. It adopts the development of the leadingedge technology for water and wastewater treatment using membrane as a future Japanese technology for the global
use, which can contribute to build a healthy water metabolic system and sustainable use of water.
This paper deals with the concept and performance of hybrid membrane water purification system obtained in the
author’s laboratory.
