No abstract

No abstract

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) reaching surface waters through municipal wastewater are a concern, as existing treatment processes poorly remove them. While significant lab-scale evaluations have been performed on treatment options, full-scale tests are lacking. Presented is an experimental study from a full-scale research facility that is imbedded in a functioning municipal wastewater plant. Reverse osmosis and ozonation were tested as part of an active treatment train using secondary treated effluent from the adjoining facility. Reverse osmosis removed 92.6%, 99.0%, 99.6%, 97.8%, 99.0%, 99.6%, 99.9%, and 99.2% of metformin, cotinine, trimethoprim, caffeine, venlafaxine, carbamazepine, erythromycin, and fluoxetine, respectively. By ozone, sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine, erythromycin and o-desmethylvenlafaxine were removed by more than 99.9%. Trimethoprim and venlafaxine were removed by more than 95%, with the remaining compounds removed by between 16% and 85%. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of reverse osmosis and ozonation for full-scale treatment.

Aerobic granulation and UV/H2O2 in a continuous flow-through reactor can effectively degrade emerging contaminates, such as sulfolane.

This is a review of literature published in 2013 related to the presence of pesticides and herbicides in the environment. The review, divided into four sections, includes toxicology, ecology, risk assessment, modelling and treatment strategies.