MINI REVIEW article
Front. Membr. Sci. Technol.
Sec. Membrane Applications - Energy
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frmst.2025.1638191
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Sustainability: Membrane Solutions in the Circular EconomyView all 3 articles
A Review on Combined Solar-Membrane Systems for Wastewater Treatment in Africa
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institut International d'Ingenierie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
- 2Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology of Gabes, Unversity of Gabes, Gabes, Tunisia
- 3Universite des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari Boumediene, Algiers, Algeria
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Africa’s growing water stress and energy access challenges necessitate sustainable wastewater treatment solutions. This review critically examines three emerging approaches: solar-based, membrane-based, and hybrid solar-membrane systems, across the African continent. Solar technologies, including solar water disinfection, photocatalysis, and advanced oxidation processes, demonstrate significant potential in sun-rich regions, achieving more than 90% pathogen and contaminant removal in decentralized settings. Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) and advanced filtration systems show robust performance in industrial applications, with 95–99% pollutant rejection, though their energy demands remain a significant constraint. Hybrid solar-membrane systems synergize these advantages, as evidenced by case studies in Kenya (solar-MBR for aquaculture, 40% energy autonomy) and Namibia (solar-powered desalination, 99.7% salt rejection). Despite technological promise, adoption barriers persist, including high capital costs, technical capacity gaps, and policy fragmentation. This review analyze 32 implementations across 17 African countries, evaluating performance metrics, scalability, and socioeconomic viability. Key findings highlight the cost-effectiveness and sustainability gains from waste-derived membranes (e.g., geopolymers, recycled plastics, oasis waste), nanoparticle-enhanced photocatalysts (TiO₂/MnO₂), and modular system designs tailored to off-grid and resource-limited settings. The review concludes with policy recommendations to accelerate deployment. These include fostering decentralized systems in peri-urban and rural areas, promoting public-private partnerships to finance infrastructure, and supporting localized research to adapt technologies to diverse hydroclimatic and socio-economic conditions. Together, these approaches offer a viable pathway toward achieving SDG 6 and SDG 7 in Africa.
Keywords: Solar-Membrane Systems, wastewater treatment, Circular economy, Renewable Energy, Water reuse, Africa
Received: 30 May 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Nouhou Moussa, Zrelli, Sawadogo and Chemini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Adel Zrelli, Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology of Gabes, Unversity of Gabes, Gabes, Tunisia
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