Combined chemical oxidation and membrane filtration techniques applied to the removal of some selected pharmaceuticals from water systems

Removal efficiencies for 52 pesticides and pharmaceuticals from wastewater effluent by coupling solar heterogeneous photo-oxidation with TiO2 and infiltration in saturated soil column

Water resource management has become a hot button issue in recent decades. Countries facing water shortages as a result to climate change must adapt their water supply. The reuse of wastewater treatment plant effluents is becoming increasingly common around the world. However, the effluent quality must be improved before its reutilization to avoid contamination of the receiving environment. Pharmaceuticals and pesticides are particularly monitored because of their ubiquitous behaviours and limited removal by conventional wastewater treatment plants. The aim of this study was to combine heterogeneous photo-oxidation with TiO2 and soil infiltration to increase the elimination of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). These advanced treatments were applied on an effluent coming from a WWTP equipped with a Ultrafor membrane bioreactor (sludge ages: 8-30 days, biomass concentration: 8-12 g.L-1, hydraulic retention: 6.7-8 h). The concentration of CECs was determined to evaluate the efficiency of coupling treatments. Photo-oxidation alone showed an impressive 98 % removal under spring conditions, while 66 % removal was observed under winter conditions. The differences observed for photo-oxidation were related to UV flux density, lower in winter than in spring (4.4 kJ.L-1 vs 6.6 kJ.L-1) and initial concentrations of the effluent higher in winter (50 μg.L-1 vs 26 μg.L-1). For both experiments, additional soil infiltration increased the global concentration of CECs removal to at least 89 % with equal removal contributions observed for some compounds. From the 52 CECs quantified in the WWTP effluent, at least 30 were totally removed by the advanced treatments while 4 compounds showed recalcitrant behaviours with global removal <60 %.

Hybrid system coupling ozonation and nanofiltration with functionalized catalytic ceramic membrane for ibuprofen removal

The investigations on the removal of ibuprofen (IBU) in a hybrid system coupling ozonation and nanofiltration with functionalized catalytic ceramic membrane are presented. The gaseous ozone into feed water in concentration of 11 g Nm^-3 was supplied. Positive influence of catalytic ozonation on ibuprofen decomposition was observed. The application of catalytic nanofiltration membrane led to the ibuprofen removal of 91% after the first 15 min from the beginning of the O₃/NF process, while at the same time, for the pristine membrane, it was equal to 76%. The investigations revealed incomplete degradation of drug under pH 3 after 2 h, i.e., 89%. On the other hand, the addition of inorganic salts did not affect the catalytic ibuprofen removal efficiency. Under acidic pH, the highest permeate flux decline (26%) was noted, whereas no differences between permeate flux measured under natural and alkaline conditions were observed. During the treatment process, three IBU by-products were detected, which significantly affected the permeate toxicity; however, after 2 h of catalytic nanofiltration, the product of treatment process was found as non-toxic.

Removal of Tetracycline Oxidation Products in the Nanofiltration Process

The possibility of removing tetracycline (TRC) from water in an integrated advanced oxidation and membrane filtration process was investigated. Ozonation and UV/H2O2 photooxidation were applied for the destruction of TRC. Six oxidation products (OPs) retaining the structural core of TRC have been identified. One new TRC oxidation product, not reported so far in the literature, was identified—ethyl 4-ethoxybenzoate. All identified OPs were effectively retained on the membrane in the nanofiltration process. However, chemical oxygen demand (COD) measurements of the filtrates showed that in the case of UV/H2O2 oxidation, the OPs passed through the membrane into the filtrate. Various water matrices were used in the research, including the river water untreated and after ozone treatment. It has been shown that organic matter present in surface water can improve pharmaceutical retention, although it contributes to significant membrane fouling. Pre-ozonation of the river water reduced the membrane fouling. The XPS analysis was used to show ozone and H2O2 influence on the top polymer layer of the membrane. It was shown that the oxidants can damage the amide bond of the polyamide.

Impact of Advanced Oxidation Products on Nanofiltration Efficiency

The aim of the work was to determine the influence of salicylic acid (SA) oxidation products on the effectiveness of their further removal in the membrane filtration process. Two commercial polyamide-based polymer membranes, HL (GE Osmonics) and TS80 (TriSepTM), were used and characterized by SEM microscopic analysis, contact angles, and free surface energy. The products of salicylic acid oxidation, 2,3- and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid and catechol, were determined and their impact on the removal of unreacted salicylic acid in the nanofiltration process was investigated. It was also checked to what extent and why they were retained or not by the membranes. The results of the research have shown that the main product of salicylic acid oxidation, 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid, has a negative impact on the retention of salicylic acid in the nanofiltration stage, while the other product, catechol, improves SA retention. The determined values of contact angles correlate well with solubility (S) of the tested compounds, which increases in the following order SSA < S2,3-DHBA < SCAT, while the contact angle of the membrane decreases. Nevertheless, it has been shown that some oxidation products can penetrate the environment due to poorer membrane separation properties of these products.

Application of advanced oxidation processes and toxicity assessment of transformation products

Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) are the techniques employed for oxidation of various organic contaminants in polluted water with the objective of making it suitable for human consumption like household and drinking purpose. AOPs use potent chemical oxidants to bring down the contaminant level in the water. In addition to this function, these processes are also capable to kills microbes (as disinfectant) and remove odor as well as improve taste of the drinking water. The non-photochemical AOPs methods include generation of hydroxyl radical in absence of light either by ozonation or through Fenton reaction. The photochemical AOPs methods use UV light along with H₂O₂, O₃ and/or Fe⁺² to generate reactive hydroxyl radical. Non-photochemical method is the commonly used whereas, photochemical method is used when conventional O₃ and H₂O₂ cannot completely oxidize organic pollutants. However, the choice of AOPs methods is depended upon the type of contaminant to be removed. AOPs cause loss of biological activity of the pollutant present in drinking water without generation of any toxicity. Conventional ozonation and AOPs can inactivate estrogenic compounds, antiviral compounds, antibiotics, and herbicides. However, the study of different AOPs methods for the treatment of drinking water has shown that oxidation of parent compound can also lead to the generation of a degradation/transformation product having biological activity/chemical toxicity similar to or different from the parent compound. Furthermore, an increased toxicity can also occur in AOPs treated drinking water. This review discusses various methods of AOPs, their merits, its application in drinking water treatment, the related issue of the evolution of toxicity in AOPs treated drinking water, biocatalyst, and analytical methods for identification of pollutants /transformed products and provides future directions to address such an issue.

Occurrences and removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in drinking water and water/sewage treatment plants: A review

In recent years, many of micropollutants have been widely detected because of continuous input of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) into the environment and newly developed state-of-the-art analytical methods. PPCP residues are frequently detected in drinking water sources, sewage treatment plants (STPs), and water treatment plants (WTPs) due to their universal consumption, low human metabolic capability, and improper disposal. When partially metabolized PPCPs are transferred into STPs, they elicit negative effects on biological treatment processes; therefore, conventional STPs are insufficient when it comes to PPCP removal. Furthermore, the excreted metabolites may become secondary pollutants and can be further modified in receiving water bodies. Several advanced treatment systems, including membrane filtration, granular activated carbon, and advanced oxidation processes, have been used for the effective removal of individual PPCPs. This review covers the occurrence patterns of PPCPs in water environments and the techniques adopted for their treatment in STP/WTP unit processes operating in various countries. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive summary of the removal and fate of PPCPs in different treatment facilities as well as the optimum methods for their elimination in STP and WTP systems.

Comparative evaluation of adsorption kinetics of diclofenac and isoproturon by activated carbon

Adsorption mechanism of diclofenac and isoproturon onto activated carbon has been proposed using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Adsorption capacity and optimum adsorption isotherms were predicted by nonlinear regression method. Different kinetic equations, pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, intraparticle diffusion model and Bangham kinetic model, were applied to study the adsorption kinetics of emerging contaminants on activated carbon in two aqueous matrices.

Systematic screening of common wastewater-marking pharmaceuticals in urban aquatic environments: implications for environmental risk control

In this report, we refer to pharmaceuticals that are widespread in the urban aquatic environment and that mainly originate from wastewater treatment plants or non-point source sewage as "wastewater-marking pharmaceuticals" (WWMPs). To some extent, they reflect the condition or trend of water contamination and also contribute to aquatic environmental risk assessment. The method reported here for screening typical WWMPs was proposed based on academic concerns about them and their concentrations present in the urban aquatic environment, as well as their properties of accumulation, persistence, eco-toxicity and related environmental risks caused by them. The screening system consisted of an initial screening system and a further screening system. In the former, pharmaceuticals were categorised into different evaluation levels, and in the latter, each pharmaceutical was given a normalised final evaluation score, which was the sum of every score for its properties of accumulation, persistence, eco-toxicity and environmental risk in the aquatic environment. The system was applied to 126 pharmaceuticals frequently detected in the aquatic environment. In the initial screening procedure, five pharmaceuticals were classified into the "high" category, 16 pharmaceuticals into the "medium" category, 15 pharmaceuticals into the "low" category and 90 pharmaceuticals into the "very low" category. Subsequently, further screening were conducted on 36 pharmaceuticals considered as being of "high", "medium" and "low" categories in the former system. We identified 7 pharmaceuticals with final evaluation scores of 1-10, 10 pharmaceuticals with scores of 11-15, 15 pharmaceuticals with scores from 16 to 20 and 4 pharmaceuticals with scores above 21. The results showed that this screening system could contribute to the effective selection of target WWMPs, which would be important for spatial-temporal dynamics, transference and pollution control of pharmaceuticals in the urban aquatic environment. However, there remains a number of pharmaceutical parameters with measured data gaps, such as organic carbon adsorption coefficients and bioconcentration factors, which, if filled, would improve the accuracy of the screening system.