Removal of microplastics in municipal sewage from China's largest water reclamation plant

Yang, Lo; Li, Kuixiao; Cui, Song; Kang, Yongqiang; An, Lihui; Lei, Kun

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2019.02.046

Cited by 324 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Another factor contributing to the uncertainty is the likely day-to-day variation in MP concentrations in the effluent of the wastewater treatment plant, as reported by Talvitie et al [29]. However, compared with other studies, the sampled volume in the present study was in general one order of magnitude higher [25,40,41], hence it is reasonable to assume that the impact from this type of variation was lower in this study.…”

Section: Particle Size and Massmentioning

confidence: 48%

Microplastics Removal from Treated Wastewater by a Biofilter

Fan

Nord

Bester

et al. 2020

Water

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Microplastic (MP) pollution is a global environmental issue, and traditionally treated wastewater has been identified as a source of land-based microplastics into the aquatic environment. This study evaluated the performance of a pilot-scale biofilter to polish wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent before it enters the environment. The filter was divided into four zones, allowing the concentration of microplastics to be followed through the filter. It was fed with secondary effluent from a conventional WWTP in Denmark. The raw effluent from the WWTP contained 917 items m−3 which corresponded to a mass concentration of 24.8 µg m−3. After the top layer of the biofilter, the concentration had decreased to a median value of 197 item m−3 and 2.8 µg m−3, indicating an overall removal efficiency of 79% in terms of particle number and 89% in terms of particle mass. We also observed a tendency that MP of larger size and higher particle mass were more likely to be retained. After the last filtration zone, all MP larger than 100 µm had been removed. The results of this study demonstrate that biofilters are able to lower the MP abundance in treated wastewater significantly, but a complete removal is not ensured, hence some MP, particularly small-sized ones, can still be discharged into the receiving environment.

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Section: Particle Size and Massmentioning

confidence: 48%

Microplastics Removal from Treated Wastewater by a Biofilter

Fan

Nord

Bester

et al. 2020

Water

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“…The microplastics removal methodology used by municipal sewage treatment plants was studied by researchers in Beijing, China (Yang et al 2019). The influents were initially treated by a series of processes including aerated grit chamber, primary and secondary sedimentation tanks following A 2 O treatments, e.g., anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic.…”

Section: Removal Using Advanced Filtration Technologies In Wastewatermentioning

confidence: 99%

Removal of microplastics from the environment. A review

et al. 2020

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The production of fossil fuel-derived, synthetic plastics is continually increasing, while poor plastic waste management has recently induced severe pollution issues. Microplastics are plastic particles smaller than 5 mm. Microplastics are ubiquitous and slowly-degrading contaminants in waters and soils. Microplastics have long residence time, high stability, high potential of being fragmented and can adsorb other contaminants. Many aquatic species contain microplastics, which are in particular easily accumulated by planktonic and invertebrate organisms. Then, microplastics are transferred along food chains, leading to physical damages, decrease in nutritional diet value and exposure of the living organism to pathogens. Raw plastics contain chemical additives such as phthalates, bisphenol A and polybrominated diphenyl ethers that may induce toxic effects after ingestion by living organisms. Furthermore, the adsorption capability of microplastics makes them prone to carry several contaminants. Methods to remove microplastics from water and other media are actually needed. Here, we review microplastics occurrence, transport, raw polymers and additives, toxicity and methods of removal. Removal methods include physical sorption and filtration, biological removal and ingestion, and chemical treatments. Mechanisms, efficiency, advantages, and drawbacks of various removal methods are discussed.

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“…2j, and the maximum dimension corresponded to a white transparent 12 mm ber also collected in an INF sample. The average size increased from fragments (633.33 ± 79.19 µm) to lms (1012.71 ± 235.78 µm) and bers (1487.11 ± 104.64 µm), which implies that bers are likely from domestic washing (Yang et al 2019).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Statistically signi cant differences were observed between average MP concentration collected from INF (2.74 ± 0.49 items L − 1 ) versus those collected in the EFF (0.98 ± 0.27 items L − 1 ) (F-test = 9.998, p = 0.004), indicating a removal rate of 64.26% for all microplastic forms, within the average retention rate in Europe for WWTPs of between 53% and 84% (Hann et al 2018). Lares et al (2018) reported a concentration of 1.0 ± 0.4 items L − 1 in the nal e uent of a Finish WWTP with a daily average ow of 10,000 m 3 , and Yang et al (2019) reported 0.59 ± 0.22 items L − 1 in the e uent from the largest water reclamation plant in China (1,000,000 m 3 day − 1 ). Minimum and maximum values corresponded to 0.65 and 6.37 items L − 1 for INF, and 0.17 and 3.33 items L − 1 for EFF, respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of Microplastics in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant With Tertiary Treatment: Removal Efficiencies and Loading Per Day Into the Environment

Bayo

Olmos

López-Castellanos

2021

Preprint

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This study investigates the removal of microplastics from wastewater in an urban wastewater treatment plant located in Southeast Spain, including an oxidation ditch, rapid sand filtration, and ultraviolet disinfection. A total of 146.73 L of wastewater samples from influent and effluent were processed, following a density separation methodology, visual classification under a stereomicroscope, and FTIR analysis for polymer identification. Microplastics proved to be 72.41% of total microparticles collected, with a global removal rate of 64.26% after the tertiary treatment and within the average retention for European WWTPs. Three different shapes were identified: i.e., microfiber (79.65%), film (11.26%), and fragment (9.09%), without the identification of microbeads despite the proximity to a plastic compounding factory. Fibers were less efficiently removed (56.16%) than particulate microplastics (90.03%), suggesting that tertiary treatments clearly discriminate among forms, and reporting a daily emission of 1.6 x 107 microplastics to the environment. Year variability in microplastic burden was cushioned at the effluent, reporting a stable performance of the sewage plant. Eight different polymer families were identified, LDPE film being the most abundant form. Future efforts should be carried on source control, plastic waste management, improvement of legislation, and specific microplastic-targeted treatment units, especially for microfiber removal.

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Removal of microplastics in municipal sewage from China's largest water reclamation plant

Cited by 324 publications

References 25 publications

Microplastics Removal from Treated Wastewater by a Biofilter

Microplastics Removal from Treated Wastewater by a Biofilter

Removal of microplastics from the environment. A review

Assessment of Microplastics in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant With Tertiary Treatment: Removal Efficiencies and Loading Per Day Into the Environment

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