PPCPs’ Removal in a Wastewater Treatment Plant of New Zealand

Annual Conference

In this study, the occurrence and removal efficiency of 19 selected pharmaceuticals and Personal care products (PPCPs) was investigated in an urban wastewater treatment plant of New Zealand to evaluate the removal efficiency of the treatment plant which relies on membrane bioreactor (MBR) and Bardenpho process for wastewater treatment. This is the first comprehensive study in New Zealand that reveals the occurrence and removal of PPCPs in a wastewater treatment plant. The 24-hours composite samples were first acidified and filtered and then stored at 4 ºC before analysis. The solid phase extraction followed by vacuum concentration was used for concentrating trace amount of PPCPs present in wastewater. The samples were analyzed by a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS) in both positive and negative electrospray ionization (ESI) mode. The reverse phase amide HPLC column was used to separate the analytes.Results showed that all of the monitored PPCPs were detected in influent and more than 80% were present in wastewater final effluent. Acetaminophen, caffeine, and metformin were the most frequently detected compounds in the influent and were present in the range of 6,000- 40,000 ng/L. The wastewater treatment facility was unable to remove most of the PPCPs efficiently. The removal efficiency was more than 99% for acetaminophen, caffeine, and ibuprofen while it was significantly low (<50%) for trimethoprim, benzotriazole, and TCEP. This study revealed that MBR and Bardenpho processes are not adequate to efficiently remove most of the monitored PPCPs. It highlights the need for further tertiary treatment to improve the overall removal efficiency of the PPCPs from wastewater.

Conference Papers

3.00 PPCPS Removal in a Wastewater Treatment Plant of New Zealand.pdf

pdf
470 KB
06 Nov 2017

3.00pm L Padye.pdf

pdf
2 MB
06 Nov 2017