This paper reports the dynamic characterizations of a ZnAl2O4-TiO2 membrane deposited on a macroporous support prepared from Moroccan clay coated with a zirconia microfiltration interlayer. The water permeability of the membrane is 0.26 x 10(-10) m s(-1) Pa-1, its thickness is less than 700 nm with an average pore diameter of 5 nm, and a cut off about 4500 Da. The investigations of filtrations performed with different salts (NaCl, CaCl2, Na2SO4, CaSO4) prove the rejection mechanism is governed by a Donnan exclusion of the coion. Results obtained with solutions charged in heavy metal ions such as Cr-III and synthetic dyes are very promising to consider the use of this membrane in depolluting filtration processes. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.