Algae blooms seriously threatenwater quality and the supply of drinking water. A membrane process combined
with coagulation, powdered activated carbon, and potassium permanganate was used as a treatment and investigated
for its ability to copewith algae bloomsinwater bodies. The experimental results demonstrated that algae
blooms can cause greater organic matter concentrations with large increases in the small neutral hydrophilic
fraction (molecularweight (MW)lower than 1000 Da). This organic matter was effectively removed by pretreatment;
therefore, no serious impacts on membrane filtration operation were found. Powdered activated carbon
and potassium permanganate prolonged the filtration cycle. By investigating the fouled membranes during
microfiltration (MF), we determined that the organics responsible for irreversible membrane fouling included
strong hydrophobic and neutral hydrophilic organics with medium and small MWs, especially protein and
carbohydrate in the neutral hydrophilic fraction. Alkaline cleaning was more efficient for organic elution than
acidic cleaning; however, the acidic agent desorbed protein more effective than the alkaline agent.