Comparison of Estrogenic, Spectroscopic, and Toxicological Analyses of Pilot-Scale Water, Wastewaters, and Processed Wastewaters at Select Military Installations

Abstract

Reuse of water requires the removal of contaminants to ensure human health. We report the relative estrogenic activity (REA) of reuse treatment design scenarios for water, wastewaters, and processed wastewaters before and after pilot-scale treatment systems tested at select military facilities. The comparative relationships between REA, several composite toxicological endpoints, and spectroscopic indicators were evaluated for different reuse treatment trains. Four treatment processes including conventional and advanced treatments reduced the estrogenicity by at least 33%. Biologically based methods reduced estrogenicity to below detection levels. Conventional treatment scenarios led to significantly less reduction of adverse biological endpoints compared to the advanced treatment scenarios. Incorporating the anaerobic membrane bioreactor reduced more endpoints with higher reduction percentages compared to the sequencing batch reactor design. Membrane technology and advanced oxidation generated reductions across all biological endpoints, from 65% (genotoxicity) to 100% (estrogenicity). The design scenarios featuring a low-cutoff mechanical screen filter, intermittent activated carbon biofilter, and membrane filtration achieved the highest percent reduction and produced water with the lowest negative biological endpoints. Spectroscopic indicators demonstrated case-specific relationships with estrogenicity and toxicity. Estrogenicity consistently correlated with cytotoxicity and thiol reactivity, indicating the potential for preliminary estrogenicity screening using thiol reactivity.

Is Genotoxicity Associated with Disinfection Byproducts in Potable Reuse and Conventional Drinking Water Additive?

“…Since the discovery that trihalomethanes (THMs) form from chlorine reactions with dissolved organic matter in water supplies, , epidemiology studies have associated the consumption of chlorine-disinfected tap waters with bladder, colon, and rectal cancers. − While over 700 disinfection byproducts (DBPs) have been identified, only ∼30 have been tested for carcinogenicity using in vivo assays, , and only 11 DBPs are regulated in U.S. tap waters . Many utilities are switching from chlorine disinfection to novel disinfectant combinations to reduce the formation of regulated DBPs, but different disinfectants promote different DBP classes. , Moreover, utilities are incorporating the use of algal- and wastewater-impacted waters to expand water supplies; − differences in the organic matter characteristics in these waters may promote the formation of different DBP classes . Identifying the toxicity drivers in disinfected waters is important to ensure that changes in source water quality and disinfection systems reduce the formation of DBPs driving drinking water toxicity …”

Financial analysis of decentralized water reuse systems in mission critical facilities at U.S. Army installations

“…14 While on-site water reuse can reduce the building water demand and help maintain mission critical functions in terms of limited water supply, economic, retrofit challenges, stakeholder perception, and regulatory uncertainty can represent barriers to adoption. 15,16 More broadly, the implementation of decentralized water reuse may result in other potential (unintended) impacts related to the environment, public health, and infrastructure; [17][18][19] however, these were considered outside the scope of this study.…”