How it works
- finer than MF — At roughly 0.01 µm, UF holds back viruses and colloidal silica as well as everything MF stops. That is why it is the default pre-treatment ahead of RO — it delivers an SDI the RO can live with, whatever the raw water does.
- flux and TMP — Same relationship as MF but at a higher clean TMP, because the pores are finer. Permeability is the health indicator: when it falls and a backwash does not bring it back, the fouling has turned irreversible.
- integrity — A single broken fibre destroys the barrier while the plant carries on looking normal — flux and TMP barely move. That is why UF is tested by pressure decay: hold air on the permeate side and watch it fall. Above about 20 mbar/min the module comes out.
- what governs it — Flux sets area and fouling rate; the backwash cycle sets net recovery; integrity testing decides whether you can claim the log removal at all. Wind the decay rate up and watch the LRV claim collapse — the plant looks fine and is not.
Design parameters
The panel opposite runs the same correlations as the UF-580 design sheet, so the animation and the calculator cannot disagree. Drag any of them and the picture responds.
- Permeate flow — m³/h
- Design flux — LMH
- Clean TMP — bar
- Filtration interval — min
- Fouling rate — bar/30 min
- Pressure decay — mbar/min
Open the full UF-580 design sheet for the governing equations, the accepted design envelopes and the worked calculation.