Research Summary:
My research and that of my students involve membrane technology and water, in that we treat water with the aid of the membranes and membrane processes that we develop. The research, development and establishment of filtration technology, with the accent on eventual commercialization of any successful technology, lie at the core of the effort.

Research Description:
The membrane research is by nature multidisciplinary and inter-institutional, with a touch of basic and a lot of applied work. Our research is also purpose driven, and aimed at improving the quality of water of which we do not have much in our country, either by direct or enhanced filtration or biological processing or combinations.

The following illustrates our approach: We did the basic research to develop an ultrafiltration membrane by which to treat surface water for drinking purposes. Together with the Departments of Chemical Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch and the Durban Institute of Technology we developed a process to treat river water to bottled water quality for drinking purposes. Along the way we also worked with the Dept of Biochemistry of this University on membrane fouling and the use of enzymes to clean the membranes.

We are presently developing different membranes and other filtration technologies with enhanced characteristics, by making use of our knowledge of materials, chemistry and polymer science, in the hope of adding to the inventory of the company. Did anyone say research, science and engineering cannot be rewarding?