Application of oxidation processes in wastewater quaternary treatment for organic compounds, antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs removal and disinfection

Reducing the content of micropollutants, including pharmacological ones, in treated wastewater discharged to the receiver, as a result of the introduction of legislative changes, is currently an urgent matter. The commonly used biological wastewater treatment system does not remove it effectively, a...

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Main Authors: Małgorzata Komorowska-Kaufman, Joanna Zembrzuska
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Desalination and Water Treatment
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S194439862500075X
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author Małgorzata Komorowska-Kaufman
Joanna Zembrzuska
author_facet Małgorzata Komorowska-Kaufman
Joanna Zembrzuska
author_sort Małgorzata Komorowska-Kaufman
collection DOAJ
description Reducing the content of micropollutants, including pharmacological ones, in treated wastewater discharged to the receiver, as a result of the introduction of legislative changes, is currently an urgent matter. The commonly used biological wastewater treatment system does not remove it effectively, and expansion with a quaternary wastewater treatment step will be necessary. In the presented research, wastewater treated at a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) with the removal of biogenic compounds was subjected to further purification processes using hydrogen peroxide, Fenton’s reagent, UV254 irradiation and a combination of these methods, and, for comparison, coagulation with the use of FeSO4. The effectiveness of the methods was determined in terms of removing organic compounds, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (fenoprofen, ketoprofen, paracetamol, naproxen, ibuprofen, diclofenac) and antibiotics (trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole) and reducing the number of psychrophilic and mesophilic bacteria. The best effects of the removal of organic compounds (TOC) were achieved by the Fenton (43.9 %), Fenton+UV254 (51.4 %) and H2O2 (43.5 %), with final carbon concentrations of 7.9–9.1 mg C/L. The process configurations showed different effectiveness in removing pharmaceutical substances. The Fenton process or irradiation combined with H2O2 achieved the removal of all tested pharmaceuticals above 96 %, except for fenoprofen (in the range of 74–83 %) and ibuprofen (90–93 %). The use of UV254 irradiation had the best disinfection effectiveness. For an exposure time of 60 min, with and without H2O2, a higher than 99.99 % reduction in bacteria was achieved.
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spelling doaj-art-04052f3eccc0405dabe103db36d58fa52025-08-20T02:54:58ZengElsevierDesalination and Water Treatment1944-39862025-01-0132110105910.1016/j.dwt.2025.101059Application of oxidation processes in wastewater quaternary treatment for organic compounds, antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs removal and disinfectionMałgorzata Komorowska-Kaufman0Joanna Zembrzuska1Poznan University of Technology, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Energy, Institute of Environmental Engineering and Building Installations, Berdychowo 4, Poznań 60965, Poland; Corresponding author.Poznan University of Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Institute of Chemistry and Technical Electrochemistry, Berdychowo 4, Poznań 60965, PolandReducing the content of micropollutants, including pharmacological ones, in treated wastewater discharged to the receiver, as a result of the introduction of legislative changes, is currently an urgent matter. The commonly used biological wastewater treatment system does not remove it effectively, and expansion with a quaternary wastewater treatment step will be necessary. In the presented research, wastewater treated at a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) with the removal of biogenic compounds was subjected to further purification processes using hydrogen peroxide, Fenton’s reagent, UV254 irradiation and a combination of these methods, and, for comparison, coagulation with the use of FeSO4. The effectiveness of the methods was determined in terms of removing organic compounds, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (fenoprofen, ketoprofen, paracetamol, naproxen, ibuprofen, diclofenac) and antibiotics (trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole) and reducing the number of psychrophilic and mesophilic bacteria. The best effects of the removal of organic compounds (TOC) were achieved by the Fenton (43.9 %), Fenton+UV254 (51.4 %) and H2O2 (43.5 %), with final carbon concentrations of 7.9–9.1 mg C/L. The process configurations showed different effectiveness in removing pharmaceutical substances. The Fenton process or irradiation combined with H2O2 achieved the removal of all tested pharmaceuticals above 96 %, except for fenoprofen (in the range of 74–83 %) and ibuprofen (90–93 %). The use of UV254 irradiation had the best disinfection effectiveness. For an exposure time of 60 min, with and without H2O2, a higher than 99.99 % reduction in bacteria was achieved.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S194439862500075XOxidationAdvanced oxidation processNonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugsAntibioticsWastewater treatmentDisinfection
spellingShingle Małgorzata Komorowska-Kaufman
Joanna Zembrzuska
Application of oxidation processes in wastewater quaternary treatment for organic compounds, antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs removal and disinfection
Desalination and Water Treatment
Oxidation
Advanced oxidation process
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Antibiotics
Wastewater treatment
Disinfection
title Application of oxidation processes in wastewater quaternary treatment for organic compounds, antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs removal and disinfection
title_full Application of oxidation processes in wastewater quaternary treatment for organic compounds, antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs removal and disinfection
title_fullStr Application of oxidation processes in wastewater quaternary treatment for organic compounds, antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs removal and disinfection
title_full_unstemmed Application of oxidation processes in wastewater quaternary treatment for organic compounds, antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs removal and disinfection
title_short Application of oxidation processes in wastewater quaternary treatment for organic compounds, antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs removal and disinfection
title_sort application of oxidation processes in wastewater quaternary treatment for organic compounds antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs removal and disinfection
topic Oxidation
Advanced oxidation process
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Antibiotics
Wastewater treatment
Disinfection
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S194439862500075X
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