The membrane is alive. Clean, safe water, almost no fouling.
Living Membrane® turns the biofilm into the filter. Two coarse meshes encapsulate a living biological layer that builds itself during treatment, producing reuse-grade water at low pressure, low energy and with almost no membrane cleaning.
Funded by the European Union
Proven on real urban wastewater.
A 100-litre pilot ran continuously on raw municipal wastewater at the Battipaglia treatment plant. Through wide swings in the incoming load, the Living Membrane held a stable filter and barely fouled, retaining microplastics and helping to control contaminants of emerging concern such as antibiotics and pharmaceuticals.
Start-up performance of the 100-litre pilot-scale Living Membrane bioreactor · Battipaglia WWTP, Campania, Italy · 2026.
Fouling, reimagined as filtration.
In a conventional membrane bioreactor, the biofilm that builds on the membrane is the enemy: it clogs, it raises pressure, it demands chemicals and downtime. Living Membrane inverts the problem: it cultivates that layer on purpose and uses it as the active filter.
It builds itself
No fine manufactured membrane to buy, foul or replace. A living cake and an encapsulated biofilm self-form on two coarse meshes during normal operation.
The biofilm is encapsulated
Two adjacent coarse mesh sheets trap a biological layer between them. Solids are intercepted in series, first an external cake, then the encapsulated biofilm, giving consistently low permeate turbidity.
Low pressure, low energy
The system runs at very low transmembrane pressure with an extremely low fouling rate, enabling continuous operation with no chemical cleaning.
Electro-enhanced option
In the electro-LMBR variant, two electrodes in the tank set up a mild electric field that drives charged foulants away from the membrane, protecting the filter and sharpening removal. Switch on Electro mode on the diagram above to watch the foulants migrate.
From bench to basin.
More than a decade of research at the SEED laboratory, advanced from synthetic solutions to a working pilot on real wastewater under the EU-funded SPORE-MED project.
The principle
Living, self-forming dynamic bio-membranes validated on synthetic urban and textile wastewater: high removals, low fouling, and the core technology patented.
Real wastewater
100 L pilot at Battipaglia WWTP treats raw municipal influent within SPORE-MED. Stable filter, microplastic retention, no external cleaning.
Demonstration & uptake
Roadmap to demonstration-scale modules and full-scale retrofits for utilities upgrading to meet the revised EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.
Real plant. Real water. Real conditions.
The pilot is installed inside an operating urban wastewater treatment plant in Battipaglia, Campania, and fed with the effluent of the plant's preliminary treatment stage, the same variable and complex matrix a full-scale works must handle every day.
- SiteBattipaglia WWTP, Campania · operated by ASIS Salernitana Reti e Impianti S.p.A.
- FeedRaw municipal wastewater after preliminary treatment
- Scale100 L bioreactor with a module of electro Living Membrane
- FundingDesigned and built within SPORE-MED · PRIMA programme, EU (Reference 2322)
- ResultContinuous operation, stable permeate, no external cleaning
Where a living filter changes the economics.
Upgrading urban WWTPs
A low-energy, small-footprint route to advanced treatment for works modernising under the revised EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (2024/3019).
Directive-readyMicroplastics & emerging contaminants
High retention of microplastics on real wastewater, and a barrier for contaminants of emerging concern such as antibiotics and pharmaceuticals.
Emerging contaminantsWater reuse
Reuse-grade, low-turbidity permeate for agricultural irrigation and non-potable reuse in water-stressed Mediterranean regions.
Circular waterIndustrial & textile effluent
Demonstrated on textile wastewater with model dyes, with robust treatment for difficult, high-strength industrial streams.
IndustrialLow energy & footprint
A self-forming membrane and the absence of chemical cleaning lower energy use and operating costs, while the patented support module can be built from eco-compatible materials.
Low energy & ecoResource recovery
Part of a circular-economy treatment train, recovering water and nutrients while keeping plants compact and efficient.
Nutrient & waterPeer-reviewed, patent-protected.
Living Membrane is the product of a sustained research line at the Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division (SEED) of the University of Salerno. Its performance and potential are documented in several papers in high-impact scientific journals.
Scaled within a Mediterranean mission.
Living Membrane is developed and scaled within SPORE-MED, Sustainable upgraded wastewater treatment plants for resource recovery, water reuse and health surveillance in the Mediterranean region, a three-year project (2024–2027) coordinated by the University of Girona under the PRIMA programme and funded by the European Union (GA 2322). This website is one of the project's dissemination outputs.
Visit the SPORE-MED project site →
Bring a living filter to your plant.
We work with utilities, industry and researchers on licensing, demonstration and joint development of the Living Membrane technology.