Ultrafiltration/Granulated Active Carbon-Biofilter: Efficient Removal of a Broad Range of Micropollutants
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Box 210 60, 100 31 Stockholm, Sweden
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Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(4), 710; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9040710
Published: 18 February 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Fate of Emerging Organic Micro-Contaminants)
Pharmaceutical residues, and other organic micropollutants that pass naturally through the human body into sewage, are in many cases unaffected by treatment processes at conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Accumulated in the environment, however, they can significantly affect aquatic ecosystems. The present study provides an evaluation of a treatment system for the removal of pharmaceutical residues and other micropollutants. The system is based on a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR), including ultrafiltration (UF), followed by a biofilter using granulated active carbon (GAC) as filter material. It was found that all investigated micropollutants, such as pharmaceutical residues, phenolic compounds, bacteria and microplastic particles, present in wastewater, could be removed by the treatment system to below detection limits or very low concentrations. This shows that the combination of filtration, adsorption and biodegradation provides a broad and efficient removal of micropollutants and effects. The tested treatment configuration appears to be one of the most sustainable solutions that meets today’s and future municipal sewage treatment requirements. The treatment system delivers higher resource utilization and security than other advanced treatment systems including solely GAC-filters without biology.
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Keywords:
water quality; Membrane Bioreactor; GAC-biofilter; sewage treatment; micropollutants; pharmaceutical residues; activated carbon
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MDPI and ACS Style
Baresel, C.; Harding, M.; Fång, J. Ultrafiltration/Granulated Active Carbon-Biofilter: Efficient Removal of a Broad Range of Micropollutants. Appl. Sci. 2019, 9, 710. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9040710
AMA Style
Baresel C, Harding M, Fång J. Ultrafiltration/Granulated Active Carbon-Biofilter: Efficient Removal of a Broad Range of Micropollutants. Applied Sciences. 2019; 9(4):710. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9040710
Chicago/Turabian StyleBaresel, Christian, Mila Harding, and Johan Fång. 2019. "Ultrafiltration/Granulated Active Carbon-Biofilter: Efficient Removal of a Broad Range of Micropollutants" Applied Sciences 9, no. 4: 710. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9040710
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