Patent ID: 8894858

Claim:
A method of treating a feed liquid, the method comprising: introducing the feed liquid to be treated into a filtration chamber of a membrane filtration system including: a membrane module having one or more permeable hollow membranes extending between an upper header and a lower header of the membrane module, the membrane module being located in the filtration chamber, the filtration chamber having an open upper end located above the upper header of the membrane module and a closed lower end, and a feed tank surrounding the filtration chamber and configured to provide the feed liquid through the open upper end of the filtration chamber; applying the feed liquid to surfaces of the one or more membranes within the membrane module; producing a pressure differential across membrane walls of the one or more membranes; filtering the feed liquid through the membrane walls into lumens of the one or more membranes as filtrate; and withdrawing the filtrate from the lumens of the one or more membranes.