TY - JOUR
T1 - Micropollutant biotransformation under different redox conditions in PhoRedox conventional activated sludge systems
AU - Martins, Tiago A. E.
AU - Muñoz Sierra, Julian D.
AU - Nieuwlands, Jo A.
AU - Lousada-Ferreira, Maria
AU - Amaral, Leonor
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was performed within the TKI Belissima project at KWR Water Research Institute. This research was co-financed with PPS-funding from the Top consortia for Knowledge & Innovation (TKI's) of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The authors would like to thank the KWR Water Treatment and Resource Recovery team, and the KWR Materials Research and Chemical Analysis Laboratory for their cooperation and fruitful discussions. The authors would also like to thank the Dutch project partners who facilitated the sampling campaign and data sharing for performing the lab tests. Finally, Tiago Martins would like to express his gratitude to everyone not abovementioned who contributed to this research with knowledge, advice, and emotional support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/8
Y1 - 2024/8
N2 - The ecotoxicological safety of the water bodies relies on the reduction of micropollutant emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The ecotoxicological safety of the water bodies relies on the reduction of micropollutant emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Quantification of micropollutant removal at full-scale WWTP is scarce. To our knowledge, the anaerobic conversion rates determined at conventional activated sludge processes are, so far, scarcely available in the literature for most of the micropollutants. In this research, we quantified the biotransformation rate constants and the removal efficiencies of 16 micropollutants (4,5-methylbenzotriazole, azithromycin, benzotriazole, candesartan, carbamazepine, clarithromycin, diclofenac, gabapentin, hydrochlorothiazide, irbesartan, metoprolol, propranolol, sotalol, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and venlafaxine), under aerobic, anoxic, and anaerobic redox conditions; using as inoculum wastewater and biomass from a full-scale conventional activated sludge (CAS) system in the Netherlands. Clarithromycin was the compound that exhibited the highest aerobic (76%) and anaerobic (78%) removal efficiencies, while gabapentin showed the highest removal under anoxic conditions (91%). A preference for cometabolic biotransformation of the targeted micropollutants was observed. The highest biotransformation rate constants obtained were: at aerobic conditions clarithromycin with 1.46 L.gSS−1.d−1; at anoxic conditions, gabapentin with 2.36 L.gSS−1.d−1; and at anaerobic redox conditions clarithromycin with 1.87 L.gSS−1.d−1. The obtained results of biotransformation rates will allow further modelling of micropollutant removal in CAS systems, under various redox conditions. These biotransformation rates can be added to extended ASM models to predict effluent concentration and optimize targeted advanced oxidation processes allowing savings in the operational costs and increasing the process viability.
AB - The ecotoxicological safety of the water bodies relies on the reduction of micropollutant emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The ecotoxicological safety of the water bodies relies on the reduction of micropollutant emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Quantification of micropollutant removal at full-scale WWTP is scarce. To our knowledge, the anaerobic conversion rates determined at conventional activated sludge processes are, so far, scarcely available in the literature for most of the micropollutants. In this research, we quantified the biotransformation rate constants and the removal efficiencies of 16 micropollutants (4,5-methylbenzotriazole, azithromycin, benzotriazole, candesartan, carbamazepine, clarithromycin, diclofenac, gabapentin, hydrochlorothiazide, irbesartan, metoprolol, propranolol, sotalol, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and venlafaxine), under aerobic, anoxic, and anaerobic redox conditions; using as inoculum wastewater and biomass from a full-scale conventional activated sludge (CAS) system in the Netherlands. Clarithromycin was the compound that exhibited the highest aerobic (76%) and anaerobic (78%) removal efficiencies, while gabapentin showed the highest removal under anoxic conditions (91%). A preference for cometabolic biotransformation of the targeted micropollutants was observed. The highest biotransformation rate constants obtained were: at aerobic conditions clarithromycin with 1.46 L.gSS−1.d−1; at anoxic conditions, gabapentin with 2.36 L.gSS−1.d−1; and at anaerobic redox conditions clarithromycin with 1.87 L.gSS−1.d−1. The obtained results of biotransformation rates will allow further modelling of micropollutant removal in CAS systems, under various redox conditions. These biotransformation rates can be added to extended ASM models to predict effluent concentration and optimize targeted advanced oxidation processes allowing savings in the operational costs and increasing the process viability.
KW - Activated sludge
KW - Biotransformation rate
KW - Kinetics
KW - Micropollutants
KW - Redox conditions
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UR - https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=nova_api&SrcAuth=WosAPI&KeyUT=WOS:001333290600001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS_CPL
U2 - 10.1016/j.eti.2024.103639
DO - 10.1016/j.eti.2024.103639
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85190849657
SN - 2352-1864
VL - 35
JO - Environmental Technology and Innovation
JF - Environmental Technology and Innovation
M1 - 103639
ER -
