Contaminants of Emerging Concern Removal in an Effluent of Wastewater Treatment Plant under Biological and Continuous Mode Ultrafiltration Treatment

Cristian Ferreiro, Iker Gómez-Motos, José Ignacio Lombraña, Ana de Luis, Natalia Villota, Oihana Ros and Nestor Etxebarria
Additional contact information
Cristian Ferreiro: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Bizkaia, Spain
Iker Gómez-Motos: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Bizkaia, Spain
José Ignacio Lombraña: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Bizkaia, Spain
Ana de Luis: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering in Bilbao, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Plaza Ingeniero Torres Quevedo, 1, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
Natalia Villota: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Vitoria-Gasteiz, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Nieves Cano 12, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Araba, Spain
Oihana Ros: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Bizkaia, Spain
Nestor Etxebarria: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Bizkaia, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: This work presents a case study of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), located in Biscay (Spain), in which the removal of high-occurrence contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) was studied. The existing biological treatment in the WWTP was complemented with a continuous ultrafiltration (c-UF) pilot plant, as a tertiary treatment. Thus, the effect on CEC removal of both treatments could be analyzed globally and after each operation. A total of 39 CEC were monitored, including pharmaceutical products, industrial additives, food additives, herbicides and personal care products. For evaluation of the efficiencies, the removal rates of the biological and of the c-UF treatments, including their variability over a day and a week in relation to the ammonium content, were examined in the influent of the WWTP. In the biological treatment, a wide range of different removal rates was obtained due to the different CEC’s biodegradability and concentration. In UF, lower, but more constant removal rates, were achieved. In addition, the reduction of the general toxicity by the UF treatment in terms of the Microtox ® toxicity assay was also evaluated. After UF, all of the samples yielded values of TU 50 lower than 1, confirming this result the UF effectiveness for toxicity removal.

Keywords: emerging contaminants; ultrafiltration; wastewater treatment plant; ammonium; toxicity; Microtox (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:2:p:725-:d:310623

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