Vanillin, a potential agent to prevent biofouling of reverse osmosis membrane

Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane systems are widely used in water purification plants. Reduction in plant performance due to biofilm formation over the membrane is an inherent problem. As quorum sensing (QS) mechanisms of microorganisms have been reported to be involved in the formation of biofilm, ways are sought for quorum quenching (QQ) and thereby prevention of biofilm formation. In this study using a chemostat culture run for seven days in a CDC reactor it was found that a natural QQ compound, vanillin considerably suppressed bacterial biofilm formation on RO membrane. There was 97% reduction in biofilm surface coverage, when grown in the presence of vanillin. Similarly, the average thickness, total biomass and the total protein content of the biofilm that formed in the presence of vanillin were significantly less than that of the control. However vanillin had no effect on 1-day old pre-formed biofilm.