Field Studies on the Fate and Transport of Pharmaceutical Residues in Bank Filtration

Abstract

Bank filtration and artificial ground water recharge are important, effective, and cheap techniques for surface water treatment and removal of microbes, as well as inorganic, and some organic, contaminants. Nevertheless, physical, chemical, and biological processes of the removal of impurities are not understood sufficiently. A research project titled Natural and Artificial Systems for Recharge and Infiltration attempts to provide more clarity in the processes affecting the removal of these contaminants. The project focuses on the fate and transport of selected emerging contaminants during bank filtration at two transects in Berlin, Germany. Several detections of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in ground water samples from bank filtration sites in Germany led to furthering research on the removal of these compounds during bank filtration. In this study, six PhACs including the analgesic drugs diclofenac and propyphenazone, the antiepileptic drugs carbamazepine and primidone, and the drug metabolites clofibric acid and 1‐acetyl‐1‐methyl‐2‐dimethyl‐oxamoyl‐2‐phenylhydrazide were found to leach from the contaminated streams and lakes into the ground water. These compounds were also detected at low concentrations in receiving public supply wells. Bank filtration either decreased the concentrations by dilution (e.g., for carbamazepine and primidone) and partial removal (e.g., for diclofenac), or totally removed PhACs (e.g., bezafibrate, indomethacine, antibiotics, and estrogens). Several PhACs, such as carbamazepine and especially primidone, were readily transported during bank filtration. They are thought to be good indicators for evaluating whether surface water is impacted by contamination from municipal sewage effluent or whether contamination associated with sewage effluent can be transported into ground water at ground water recharge sites.

Environmental exposure of pharmaceuticals and musk fragrances in the Somes River before and after upgrading the municipal wastewater treatment plant Cluj-Napoca, Romania

“…The increase of the load at site 3 is due to the input of the Somesul Mare River where wastewater effluents from relatively important cities (Bistrita, Nasaud, and Beclean) are being discharged. Because carbamazepine is not significantly removed in WWTPs (Jones et al 2002;Strenn et al 2004;Wiegel et al 2004;Joss et al 2005) it can be a good indicator for evaluating whether surface water is impacted by contamination from municipal sewage effluent or whether contamination associated with sewage effluent can be transported into ground water at ground water recharge sites Heberer et al 2004). Caffeine has a widespread usage in beverages, food, and pharmaceuticals.…”

Ecotoxicity of carbamazepine and its UV photolysis transformation products

“…Ternes, 1998, Metcalfe et al, 2003Andreozzi et al, 2003), and drinking waters (e.g. Stackelberg et al, 2004Stackelberg et al, , 2007Togola and Budzinski, 2008;Heberer et al, 2004). It is also noted to be highly resistant to biodegradation and thus highly recalcitrant under standard biological wastewater treatment conditions (Clara et al, 2005;Kosjek et al, 2009, Falås et al, 2012.…”

Fate and removal of pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in conventional and membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment plants and by riverbank filtration

“…The transport and fate of six pharmaceuticals belonging to different prescription classes, carbamazepine, primidone, bezafibrate, indomethacine, diclofenac and propyphenazone, and two drug metabolites, clofibric acid, and 1-acetyl-1-methyl-2-dimethyl-oxamoyl-2-phenylhydrazide (AMDOPH; a metabolite of dimethylaminophenazone), were detected in waters from recharging ponds and control wells and six of them persisted in the drinking water supply in bank-filtration sites in Berlin (Germany), replenishing groundwater from lakes Tegel and Vannsee (Heberer et al 2004; table 3). Heberer et al (2008) recently evaluated the behaviour of antibiotic residues during bank filtration in Berlin.…”