On-site evaluation of the removal of 100 micro-pollutants through advanced wastewater treatment processes for reuse applications

Abstract

The next challenge of wastewater treatment is to reliably remove micro-pollutants at the microgram per litre range in order to meet reuse applications and contribute to reach the good status of the water bodies. A hundred priority and relevant emerging substances were measured to evaluate at full-scale the removal efficiencies of seven advanced treatment lines (one membrane bioreactor process and six tertiary treatment lines) that were designed for reuse applications. To reliably compare the processes, specific procedures for micro-pollutants were applied for sampling, analysis and calculation of removal efficiencies. The membrane bioreactor process allowed to upgrade the removal efficiencies of about 20% of the substances measured, especially those that were partially degraded during conventional processes. Conventional tertiary processes like high rate clarification, sand filtration and polishing pond achieved significant removal for some micro-pollutants, especially for adsorbable substances. Advanced tertiary processes, like ozonation, activated carbon and reverse osmosis were all very efficient to complete the removal of polar pesticides and pharmaceuticals; metals and less polar substances were better retained by reverse osmosis.

Neuropsychiatric pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in wastewater treatment plants: a review

“…fast tertiary settling and sand filtration) achieved significant (30-70 %) removal for absorbable micropollutants (benzodiazepines included). [97] Nordiazepam was measured in tertiary effluents after polishing pond treatment at a concentration of 10 ng L À1 , whereas alprazolam, bromazepam and diazepam were not found. [97] Alprazolam, bromazepam, diazepam, and nordiazepam were measured in extremely low concentrations in tertiary effluents after reverse osmosis at a concentration of ,1 ng L À1 , denoting high removal.…”

“…[97] Nordiazepam was measured in tertiary effluents after polishing pond treatment at a concentration of 10 ng L À1 , whereas alprazolam, bromazepam and diazepam were not found. [97] Alprazolam, bromazepam, diazepam, and nordiazepam were measured in extremely low concentrations in tertiary effluents after reverse osmosis at a concentration of ,1 ng L À1 , denoting high removal. [97] Alprazolam, bromazepam, diazepam and nordiazepam were measured in tertiary effluents after ozonation at a concentration of 1, 4, 1 and 10 ng L À1 respectively.…”

“…Wastewater samples from seven plants in France that employed one full-scale membrane bioreactor and five full-scale conventional tertiary treatments were studied for removal efficiencies for benzodiazepines. [97] Tertiary treatment processes (e.g. fast tertiary settling and sand filtration) achieved significant (30-70 %) removal for absorbable micropollutants (benzodiazepines included).…”

“…[97] Alprazolam, bromazepam, diazepam, and nordiazepam were measured in extremely low concentrations in tertiary effluents after reverse osmosis at a concentration of ,1 ng L À1 , denoting high removal. [97] Alprazolam, bromazepam, diazepam and nordiazepam were measured in tertiary effluents after ozonation at a concentration of 1, 4, 1 and 10 ng L À1 respectively. [97] Alprazolam, bromazepam, and nordiazepam were measured in tertiary effluents after activated carbon filtration at a concentration of 1 ng L À1 , whereas diazepam was not found [97] (Table 16).…”

Micro-sized TiO2 catalyst in powder form and as coating on porcelain grès tile for the photodegradation of phenol as model pollutant for water phase

“…In spite of these advantages, many authors evidenced serious problems connected with the use of nano-sized materials: on one hand difficulty on sample handling, separation and collection, on the other hand possible side-effects on human health [13][14][15][16][17].…”