Relevance of the sludge retention time (SRT) as design criteria for wastewater treatment plants for the removal of endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals from wastewater

Kreuzinger, Norbert; Clara, Manfred; Strenn, B.; Kroiß, H.

doi:10.2166/wst.2004.0322

Cited by 199 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…It should be noted that the presented results focused on a selection of substances with limited representativeness. However, it appears that readily biodegradable substances, such as caffeine and paracetamol (in this study) or ibuprofen and natural hormones (Kreuzinger et al, 2004) are almost constantly eliminated up to 100%. The persistence of carbamazepine seems also not to be linked to the sludge age.…”

Section: Heterotrophic Phac Biodegradation and Sludge Retention Timementioning

confidence: 61%

“…These bacteria are believed to be retained in sludge in significant numbers in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) that operate above a critical sludge retention time (SRT) of 10 days (referred to 10°C) (Clara et al, 2005). The concept of critical SRTs was developed for implementing the nitrification process in biological wastewater treatment systems and has been adopted for PhAC removal (Kreuzinger et al, 2004). In contrast, Stasinakis et al (2010) found the highest biotransformation rates of endocrine disruptors at a low SRT of 3 days and Gaulke et al (2009) found no difference for 17a-ethinylestradiol at two different SRTs suggesting that heterotrophic bacteria capable of degrading PhAC are present both at low and high SRTs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Active heterotrophic biomass and sludge retention time (SRT) as determining factors for biodegradation kinetics of pharmaceuticals in activated sludge

Majewsky

Gallé

Yargeau

et al. 2011

Bioresource Technology

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a b s t r a c tThe present study investigates the biodegradation of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) by active biomass in activated sludge. Active heterotrophs (X bh ) which are known to govern COD removal are suggested as a determining factor for biological PhAC removal as well. Biodegradation kinetics of five polar PhACs were determined in activated sludge of two wastewater treatment plants which differed in size, layout and sludge retention time (SRT).Results showed that active fractions of the total suspended solids (TSS) differed significantly between the two sludges, indicating that TSS does not reveal information about heterotrophic activity. Furthermore, PhAC removal was significantly faster in the presence of high numbers of heterotrophs and a low SRT. Pseudo first-order kinetics were modified to include X bh and used to describe decreasing PhAC elimination with increasing SRT.

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Section: Heterotrophic Phac Biodegradation and Sludge Retention Timementioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active heterotrophic biomass and sludge retention time (SRT) as determining factors for biodegradation kinetics of pharmaceuticals in activated sludge

Majewsky

Gallé

Yargeau

et al. 2011

Bioresource Technology

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“…193 Kreuzinger et al proposed that higher SRTs (e.g. in works with nitrification) allowed the 194 enrichment of slowly growing bacteria and consequently the establishment of a more 195 diverse biocoenosis with broader physiological capabilities and greater potential for EDC 196 removal compared to STWs with low SRTs (35). At the works studied by Kreuzinger et 197 al.…”

Section: Introduction 38mentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Operating Parameters on the Biodegradation of Steroid Estrogens and Nonylphenolic Compounds during Biological Wastewater Treatment Processes

Koh

Chiu

Boobis

et al. 2009

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Abstract. This study investigated operational factors influencing the removal of steroid 18 estrogens and alkylphenolic compounds in two sewage treatment works, one a 19 nitrifying/denitrifying activated sludge plant and the other a nitrifying/denitrifying 20 activated sludge plant with phosphorus removal. Removal efficiencies of >90% for 21 steroid estrogens and for longer chain nonylphenol ethoxylates (NP 4-12 EO) were observed 22 at both works, which had equal sludge ages of 13 days. However, the biological activity 23 in terms of milligrams of estrogen removed per tonne of biomass was found to be 50-60% 24 more efficient in the nitrifying/denitrifying activated sludge works compared to the works 25 which additionally incorporated phosphorus removal. A temperature reduction of 6°C 26 had no impact on the removal of free estrogens, but removal of the conjugated estrone-3-27 sulphate was reduced by 20%. The apparent biomass sorption (LogKp) values were 28 greater in the nitrifying/denitrifying works than those in the nitrifying/denitrifying works 29 with phosphorus removal for both steroid estrogens and alkylphenolic compounds 30 possibly indicating a different cell surface structure and therefore microbial population. 31The difference in biological activity (mg tonne -1 ) identified in this study, of up to seven 32 2 times, suggests that there is the potential for enhancing the removal of estrogens and 33 alkylphenols if more detailed knowledge of the factors responsible for these differences 34 can be identified and maximised, thus potentially improving the quality of receiving 35 waters. 36 37 Introduction 38

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“…Through medical use large numbers of drugs are now included in this group of determinants [4][5][6][7]. A clear trend in legislation has been a lowering of acceptable environmental concentrations (e.g., 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2)) and analytical method development has become an iterative process to achieve ever lower detection limits [8][9] as further potential environmental health issues emerge [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, the coupling of liquid chromatography (LC), and particularly ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC) to MS has seen significant reductions in sample pre-treatment requirements and instrument analysis time [23]. Other than analytical difficulties, the variety of physicochemical behaviour (e.g., hydrophobicity) exhibited by drugs results in significant differences in their fate and removal during wastewater treatment [6,26]. Tertiary treatment processes are being considered to enhance hazardous chemical removal to levels which comply with proposed EQS's [27], as are the analytical methods capable of supporting their diagnosis and optimisation for this critical group of emerging chemicals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fate of drugs during wastewater treatment

Petrie

McAdam

Scrimshaw

et al. 2013

TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry

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Recent trends for the determination of pharmaceutical drugs in wastewaters focus on the development of rapid multi-residue methods. These encompass a large number of drugs (up to 90) of varying physicochemical composition (hydrophobicity, molecular weight etc) at ng l -1 concentrations in the aqueous phase of complex heterogeneous matrices. These are well suited for drug determination in secondary effluents which contain detectable concentrations of pharmaceuticals. Drugs are not routinely monitored for in particulate phases of wastewaters despite being essential for fate determination, particularly in secondary processes receiving relatively high concentrations of suspended solids. Secondary effluents tend to contain multiple drugs, often above their proposed legislative targets for consent. Thus, tertiary processing may be considered to enhance drug removal and provide additional environmental protection. However, current analytical methods do not enable the efficacy of tertiary processes to be fully ascertained due to the inherently lower drug concentrations achieved. Existing method optimisation is required to lower detection capabilities for tertiary process monitoring. This would aid the understanding of breakdown reaction completeness and the criticality between parent drug and degradation product concentrations. Numerous degradation products are formed by biological and chemical processes which can exhibit toxicity. The complimentary use of biological assays here would improve understanding of the synergistic toxicological effect of multiple drugs and their degradation products at low concentration. Additionally, tertiary processes receive secondary effluents comprising comparatively high concentrations of dissolved organics (e.g., colloids). However, knowledge of drug behaviour in the charged colloidal fraction of wastewater and its impact to treatment is limited. Monitoring and understanding here is needed to develop tertiary process diagnosis and optimisation.

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Relevance of the sludge retention time (SRT) as design criteria for wastewater treatment plants for the removal of endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals from wastewater

Cited by 199 publications

References 9 publications

Active heterotrophic biomass and sludge retention time (SRT) as determining factors for biodegradation kinetics of pharmaceuticals in activated sludge

Active heterotrophic biomass and sludge retention time (SRT) as determining factors for biodegradation kinetics of pharmaceuticals in activated sludge

Influence of Operating Parameters on the Biodegradation of Steroid Estrogens and Nonylphenolic Compounds during Biological Wastewater Treatment Processes

Fate of drugs during wastewater treatment

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