Removal of selected emerging micropollutants from wastewater treatment plant effluent by advanced non-oxidative treatment - A lab-scale case study from Serbia

The presence of 48 emerging micropollutants was tested in influent and effluent from primary and secondary treatment at a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Serbia. Sixteen emerging micropollutants (active pharmaceutical ingredients, bisphenols, parabens and UV filters) had concentrations >LOQ (max. conc. 33.4 mu g/L). The removal efficiency of primary treatment ranged from 2.0% - 96.0%. In the case of secondary treatment, except for ketoprofen (61.0%), diclofenac (62.6%) and carbamazepine (- 20.0%), all other measured micropollutants had removal efficiency above 77.0%. Advanced non-oxidative lab-scale treatments were investigated. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) adsorption achieved removal efficiencies in the range 52.4-99.9%, novel coagulation with natural coagulant isolated from beans achieved removal efficiencies in range 3.2-99.9%, conventional coagulation with ferric chloride 3.12-96.4%, combined adsorption/coagulation 2.69-99.9% and combined PAC/ultrafiltration (PAC/UF) 60-99.9%. For most of the micropollutants, their removal efficiencies were similar to that reported in the literature. Novel natural coagulant showed significant potential compared to the conventional coagulant during a short episode of sub-optimal WWTP operation. When natural coagulant was applied as a part of an adsorption/coagulation hybrid process, there was no negative effect on PAC adsorption, while for conventional coagulant that was not always the case. Also, a structure property relationship (SPR) study revealed correlations between the removal efficiency of the majority of treatments applied and total polar surface area (TPSA) of the micropollutants. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The presence of 48 emerging micropollutants was tested in influent and effluent from a wastewater treatment plant in Serbia. Different treatments were investigated for the removal of these micropollutants, with some showing high removal efficiencies. Novel natural coagulant showed significant potential compared to conventional coagulant.