The fate of steroid estrogens: Partitioning during wastewater treatment and onto river sediments

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.The partitioning of steroid estrogens in wastewater treatment and receiving waters is likely to influence their discharge to, and persistence in, the environment. This study investigated the partitioning behaviour of steroid estrogens in both laboratory and field studies. Partitioning onto activated sludge from laboratory-scale Husmann units was rapid with equilibrium achieved after 1 h. Sorption isotherms and Kd values decreased in the order 17α-ethinyl estradiol > 17α-estradiol > estrone > estriol without a sorption limit being achieved (1/n >1). Samples from a wastewater treatment works indicated no accumulation of steroid estrogens in solids from primary or secondary biological treatment, however, a range of steroid estrogens were identified in sediment samples from the River Thames. This would indicate that partitioning in the environment may play a role in the long-term fate of estrogens, with an indication that they will be recalcitrant in anaerobic conditions.EPSR

Grey water reclamation for urban non-potable reuse - challenges and solutions a review

The study shows the sustainable and effective way of managing growing water and wastewater problem is to reclaim and use greywater from bath/shower, hand basin and washing machine for outdoor and indoor non-potable purposes. A detail wastewater characterisation study by the past researchers indicates that grey water is polluted, but the quality is not similar to the domestic wastewater and therefore the traditional design criteria cannot be used for greywater reclamation. The study by the past researchers show grey water with detergent inhibit grey water reclamation process such as aerobic biological process and the appearance of reclaimed water with cloudiness, colour and excessive bubble formation reduce willingness especially for in-house uses than outdoor uses. Partially or untreated soapy grey water are useful for outdoor use and has useful nutrients, but some study shows excess detergent and other cleaning materials may cause harmful effects to the growth of plants and degrades soil structure. It may cause risk to the environment and human who makes close contact with grey water or inhale the spray. Currently most of the grey water reclamation systems are based on traditional wastewater and/or water treatment design and some have no proper design at all. In addition, due to the public perception (“yuck effect”), it is not acceptable for using reclaimed grey water for direct potable use. Also, globally there are standards for potable water quality and regulated widely, whereas only a few countries have non-potable water quality or grey water reuse standards and regulated properly. Therefore, when designing grey water reclamation, the above challenges needed to be considered. This paper presents review on grey water characteristics, health and environmental risks, public acceptability, regulatory requirement for non-potable use and on current grey water reclamation processes, particularly about the treatment of detergent and other cleaning materials and also identify natural geo or waste material for synthetic detergent removal from grey water

Grey water reclamation for urban non-potable reuse - challenges and solutions a review

The study shows the sustainable and effective way of managing growing water and wastewater problem is to reclaim and use greywater from bath/shower, hand basin and washing machine for outdoor and indoor non-potable purposes. A detail wastewater characterisation study by the past researchers indicates that grey water is polluted, but the quality is not similar to the domestic wastewater and therefore the traditional design criteria cannot be used for greywater reclamation. The study by the past researchers show grey water with detergent inhibit grey water reclamation process such as aerobic biological process and the appearance of reclaimed water with cloudiness, colour and excessive bubble formation reduce willingness especially for in-house uses than outdoor uses. Partially or untreated soapy grey water are useful for outdoor use and has useful nutrients, but some study shows excess detergent and other cleaning materials may cause harmful effects to the growth of plants and degrades soil structure. It may cause risk to the environment and human who makes close contact with grey water or inhale the spray. Currently most of the grey water reclamation systems are based on traditional wastewater and/or water treatment design and some have no proper design at all. In addition, due to the public perception (“yuck effect”), it is not acceptable for using reclaimed grey water for direct potable use. Also, globally there are standards for potable water quality and regulated widely, whereas only a few countries have non-potable water quality or grey water reuse standards and regulated properly. Therefore, when designing grey water reclamation, the above challenges needed to be considered. This paper presents review on grey water characteristics, health and environmental risks, public acceptability, regulatory requirement for non-potable use and on current grey water reclamation processes, particularly about the treatment of detergent and other cleaning materials and also identify natural geo or waste material for synthetic detergent removal from grey water