Biofouling has been referred to as “the Achilles heel” of reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technology; the main cause being polyamide RO membranes lack of chlorine tolerance. Biofouling increases the operating cost of water treatment by increasing RO system feed pressure (i.e., energy demand) and increasing membrane cleaning frequency, which increases downtime and reduces membrane useful life. For waters with known high biofouling potential, plant designs also may require more extensive pretreatment, which increases capital and operating costs as well as the footprint of a desalination plant. It is known from the literature that the three keys to fending off biofouling in RO systems and/or recovering from biofouling once it takes root include (1) understanding site-specific processes governing biofilm formation, (2) implementing effective biofouling pretreatment ahead of RO membranes, and (3) monitoring biofouling to enable more proactive and effective RO membrane cleaning. Herein, we present four case studies of RO membrane biofouling in seawater, municipal wastewater, brackish groundwater and industrial wastewater. Next, we describe what is known about the causes and consequences of bacterial biofilm formation and growth through a process level RO membrane biofouling model. Finally, we review common biofouling control methods including pre-treatment, chemical cleaning and the most common strategies for monitoring biofouling in RO membrane systems.

生物污染被称为反渗透（RO）膜技术的“致命弱点”；主要原因是聚酰胺反渗透膜缺乏耐氯性。生物污染通过增加 RO 系统进水压力（即能量需求）和增加膜清洗频率来增加水处理的运行成本，从而增加停机时间并缩短膜使用寿命。对于已知具有高生物污损潜力的水域，工厂设计也可能需要更广泛的预处理，这会增加资本和运营成本以及海水淡化厂的占地面积。从文献中得知，在 RO 系统中抵御生物污染和/或在生物污染生根后从生物污染中恢复的三个关键包括（1）了解控制生物膜形成的特定地点的过程，(2) 在 RO 膜之前实施有效的生物污染预处理，以及 (3) 监测生物污染，以实现更主动和有效的 RO 膜清洗。在此，我们介绍了海水、市政废水、微咸地下水和工业废水中 RO 膜生物污染的四个案例研究。接下来，我们通过工艺级 RO 膜生物污染模型描述了对细菌生物膜形成和生长的原因和后果的了解。最后，我们回顾了常见的生物污染控制方法，包括预处理、化学清洗和监测 RO 膜系统中生物污染的最常见策略。城市废水、微咸地下水和工业废水。接下来，我们通过工艺级 RO 膜生物污染模型描述了对细菌生物膜形成和生长的原因和后果的了解。最后，我们回顾了常见的生物污染控制方法，包括预处理、化学清洗和监测 RO 膜系统中生物污染的最常见策略。城市废水、微咸地下水和工业废水。接下来，我们通过工艺级 RO 膜生物污染模型描述了对细菌生物膜形成和生长的原因和后果的了解。最后，我们回顾了常见的生物污染控制方法，包括预处理、化学清洗和监测 RO 膜系统中生物污染的最常见策略。