A growing emphasis on water recycling resulted in intense research activity, aiming to develop and validate reliable and high-quality water treatment processes at lowest cost. In parallel, significant advances in the field of osmotically driven processes have been obtained in the past decade. While the combination of membrane bioreactor (MBR) and reverse osmosis (RO) has become the preferred choice for water reuse, the osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) has begun to be considered as a promising alternative. Based on the current state of knowledge, this paper critically asses the potential for OMBR to be implemented for water reuse application and highlights challenges to reach full scale operation. The initial vision of an energy-free osmotic gradient process is not realistic and its low fouling behaviour is still to be properly assessed. However, OMBR demonstrated unique features such as high rejection of contaminants and an absence of RO brine stream that can support its implementation, especially in the context of high end (potable, industrial) water reuse. However, to become a viable and effective technology for water reuse, significant research and development is still required. Tackling the salinity build-up, developing membranes and modules adapted to OMBR, evaluating long term performance and economics, validating removal of contaminants and developing design, maintenance and automatic control systems constitute critical topics to be considered in future research.

对水循环利用的日益重视导致了激烈的研究活动，旨在以最低的成本开发和验证可靠且高质量的水处理工艺。同时，在过去的十年中，在渗透驱动过程领域取得了重大进展。尽管膜生物反应器（MBR）和反渗透（RO）的组合已成为水回用的首选，但渗透膜生物反应器（OMBR）已开始被认为是一种有前途的替代方法。基于当前的知识水平，本文严格评估了将OMBR应用于水回用应用的潜力，并着重指出了实现全面运营所面临的挑战。无能量的渗透梯度过程的最初愿景是不现实的，其低结垢行为仍有待正确评估。然而，OMBR展示了独特的功能，例如对污染物的高度排斥以及不存在可支持其实施的RO盐水流，特别是在高端（饮用水，工业）水回用的情况下。但是，要成为可行的，有效的中水回用技术，仍然需要进行大量的研究和开发。解决盐分的增加，开发适用于OMBR的膜和模块，评估长期性能和经济性，验证污染物的去除以及开发设计，维护和自动控制系统是未来研究中要考虑的关键主题。然而，为了成为可行的，有效的中水回用技术，仍然需要大量的研究和开发。解决盐分的增加，开发适用于OMBR的膜和模块，评估长期性能和经济性，验证污染物的去除以及开发设计，维护和自动控制系统是未来研究中要考虑的关键主题。但是，要成为可行的，有效的中水回用技术，仍然需要进行大量的研究和开发。解决盐分的增加，开发适用于OMBR的膜和模块，评估长期性能和经济性，验证污染物的去除以及开发设计，维护和自动控制系统是未来研究中要考虑的关键主题。