Occurrence and fate of microplastics at two different drinking water treatment plants within a river catchment

Pivokonský, Martin; Pivokonská, Lenka; Novotná, Kateřina; Čermáková, Lenka; Klimtová, Martina

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140236

Cited by 164 publications

(127 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Particularly, GAC treatment was found to be advantageous in removing MPs lighter than water, such as PE and PP as well as MPs in all size ranges, including the 20-50 µm sized MPs, which were rarely removed by the primary and biological treatment. With regard to MP removal efficiency, similar results were obtained for the DWTP (drinking water treatment plant) equipped with the GAC filtration system (88% cumulative removal) [30]. Considering the size distribution and material classes of 20-50 µm sized MPs in oceans and effluent of STPs, the majority (64%) of MP particles detected from the Atlantic Ocean were under 40 µm and 70% of MP particles in the STP effluent were in the range of 20-100 µm.…”

Section: Performance Of Gac 331 Removal Efficiencies Of Mpssupporting

confidence: 67%

“…(year) reported that 73.7-98.5% of MPs removed by GAC filtration had particles ranging from 1 to 5 µm in size, and GAC filtration exhibited a high removal efficiency for MPs with different compositions; the removal efficiency of PE was 72.9-86.2%, followed by PP (around 59.4-66.8%) and polyacrylamide (PAM, around 49.0-54.6%), all of which were similar to the results of lower removal efficiency of the larger MPs [30,31]. Their results indicated that the reduction of small-size MPs was mainly responsible for the removal of MPs in GAC filtration.…”

Section: Performance Of Gac 331 Removal Efficiencies Of Mpssupporting

confidence: 65%

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Enhancing Microplastics Removal from Wastewater Using Electro-Coagulation and Granule-Activated Carbon with Thermal Regeneration

Kim

Park

2021

Processes

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Discharge from sewage treatment plants (STPs) is a significant pathway of entry for microplastics (MPs) to the environment. Therefore, STPs should be considered as an important barrier to the distribution and circulation of MPs in the aquatic environment. In this study, the fate and material-specific properties of MPs were investigated in an STP-equipped and granule-activated carbon (GAC) tower with a thermal regeneration system. This system functioned with a tertiary treatment unit. The GAC with thermal regeneration removed 92.8% of MPs and was useful for removing MPs with a specific gravity less than that of water and with a size of 20–50 µm, which had negligible removal in the conventional STP process. In addition, a lab-scale electric-coagulation experiment was conducted to examine its potential utility as a pretreatment process for further enhancing the removal efficiency of MPs by GAC. After 30 min of electro-coagulation using aluminum electrodes, 90% of MPs were converted into separable flocs by centrifugation. These flocs may be effectively removed by GAC or other tertiary treatment steps. This study demonstrates that GAC with thermal regeneration is a tertiary process that can efficiently prohibit the release of MPs from STPs and circulation of MPs in the natural environment.

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Section: Performance Of Gac 331 Removal Efficiencies Of Mpssupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Performance Of Gac 331 Removal Efficiencies Of Mpssupporting

confidence: 65%

Enhancing Microplastics Removal from Wastewater Using Electro-Coagulation and Granule-Activated Carbon with Thermal Regeneration

Kim

Park

2021

Processes

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“…Despite all differences and difficulties in comparing results of different studies, some aspects are consistent in the majority of data: (i) conventional drinking water treatment does not fully restrain MP, which is also stressed by 40−88% MP removal rates found by Pivokonsky et al [33,34]. (ii) In drinking water like in environmental samples, most MP particles are found in the smaller size ranges.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

From the Well to the Bottle: Identifying Sources of Microplastics in Mineral Water

Weißer

Beer

Hufnagl

et al. 2021

Water

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Microplastics (MP) have been detected in bottled mineral water across the world. Because only few MP particles have been reported in ground water-sourced drinking water, it is suspected that MP enter the water during bottle cleaning and filling. However, until today, MP entry paths were not revealed. For the first time, this study provides findings of MP from the well to the bottle including the bottle washing process. At four mineral water bottlers, five sample types were taken along the process: raw and deferrized water samples were filtered in situ; clean bottles were sampled right after they left the bottle washer and after filling and capping. Caustic cleaning solutions were sampled from bottle washers and MP particles isolated through enzymatic and chemical treatments. The samples were analyzed for eleven synthetic and natural polymer particles ≥11 µm with Fourier-transform infrared imaging and random decision forests. MP were present in all steps of mineral water bottling, with a sharp increase from <1 MP L−1 to 317 ± 257 MP L−1 attributed to bottle capping. As 81% of MP resembled the PE-based cap sealing material, abrasion from the sealings was identified as the main entry path for MP into bottled mineral water.

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“…Murphy, et al [34] estimated that from a wastewater treatment plant 65,238,500 MP particles were released daily into the final effluent, equivalent to 23 billion particles annually. Pivokonský, et al [35] observed the MP concentration in two different drinking water treatment plants with the same river as the water source. The treatment plant located downstream showed a higher MP concentration, which was suggested to be influenced by several towns through which the river flows [35].…”

Section: Micro-plastic Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pivokonský, et al [35] observed the MP concentration in two different drinking water treatment plants with the same river as the water source. The treatment plant located downstream showed a higher MP concentration, which was suggested to be influenced by several towns through which the river flows [35].…”

Section: Micro-plastic Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of Micro-plastic Contamination in Drinking Water Treatment Plants in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Babel

Dork

2021

J. Eng. Technol. Sci.

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Micro-plastics (MP) contamination in drinking water has become a global concern. Its negative impacts on human health have been reported. This study identified the presence of MP in two different drinking water treatment plants (WTP) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and investigated their removal efficiency. Samples were collected from the inlet, sedimentation, sand filtration, and distribution tank to quantify the removal by each unit. An optical microscope and a fluorescence microscope were used to detect the MP in four size fractions: 6.5-20, 20-53, 53-500, and >500 µm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to identify the polymer type for particles with size fractions of 53-500 and >500 µm. The results showed that the MP counted in WTP1 were 1180.5 ± 158 p/L in the inlet and 521 ± 61 p/L in the distribution tank. In WTP2, the MP counted were 1463 ± 126 p/L in the inlet and 617 ± 147 p/L in the distribution tank. The smaller size fraction of 6.5-20 µm predominated at each sampling location. Fragments were the most abundant morphology compared to fibers in all sampling points of both plants. PET predominated and the overall percentages for the inlet tank were 28.8% and 26%, followed by PE with 27.1% and 20.8% in WTP1 and WTP2, respectively. Other common polymer types were PP, PA, PES, and cellophane, while all others accounted for less than 5%. The results of the study showed that a significant number of MP remained in the water distribution system.

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Occurrence and fate of microplastics at two different drinking water treatment plants within a river catchment

Cited by 164 publications

References 31 publications

Enhancing Microplastics Removal from Wastewater Using Electro-Coagulation and Granule-Activated Carbon with Thermal Regeneration

Enhancing Microplastics Removal from Wastewater Using Electro-Coagulation and Granule-Activated Carbon with Thermal Regeneration

From the Well to the Bottle: Identifying Sources of Microplastics in Mineral Water

Identification of Micro-plastic Contamination in Drinking Water Treatment Plants in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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