Microinquinanti emergenti: valutazione e riduzione del rischio residuo nell’effluente e nei fanghi di depurazione

Il presente articolo riporta una sintesi del documento prodotto nell’ambito del Contratto per Attività di Ricerca stipulato in data 21 settembre 2021 fra Fondazione AMGA e Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Ambientale della Facoltà di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale della Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, avente come titolo “Valutazione del rischio residuo nell’effluente e nei fanghi di depurazione per la presenza dei microinquinanti emergenti ed individuazione delle migliori tecnologie da adottare per ridurre il rischio a valori accettabili”. Tale documento si propone di fornire un quadro aggiornato delle informazioni e dati disponibili in campo scientifico, tecnico e legislativo sul tema dei Microinquinanti Emergenti negli impianti di depurazione e loro effetti sull’ecosistema e la salute dell’uomo. Il documento può essere di supporto ai gestori del servizio idrico integrato, ai fini dell’individuazione delle migliori strategie di gestione, controllo ed intervento da adottare nella depurazione per ridurre il rischio da ME.The present paper represents a summary of the final report of the “Contratto per Attività di Ricerca”, stipulated on September 21th, 2021, between Fondazione AMGA and the Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering of the Faculty of Civil and Industrial Engineering of Sapienza University of Rome, titled “Valutazione del rischio residuo nell’effluente e nei fanghi di depurazione per la presenza dei microinquinanti emergenti ed individuazione delle migliori tecnologie da adottare per ridurre il rischio a valori accettabili”. The report intends to provide an updated overview of the more recent technical, scientifical and regulatory information and data on the presence of Emerging Micropollutants (EM) in the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This report can be an useful tool for the utilities to better manage, control and reduce the risk in the plants associated to EM

How to choose the best tertiary treatment for pulp and paper wastewater? Life cycle assessment and economic analysis as guidance tools

Pulp and paper wastewater (P&P WW) often requires tertiary treatment to remove refractory compounds not eliminated by conventional biological treatment, ensuring compliance with high-quality effluent discharge or reuse standards. This study employs a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to compare alternative tertiary treatment technologies for P&P WW and rank them accordingly. The evaluated technologies in the scenarios include inorganic (S1) and organic (S2) coagulation-flocculation, ozonation (O3) (S3), O3+granular activated carbon (GAC) (S4), and ultrafiltration (UF)+reverse osmosis (RO) (S5). The analysis focuses on a P&P wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Northeastern Italy. The LCA is complemented by an economic analysis considering each technology's capital and operating costs, as well as potential revenues from internal effluent reuse. Results indicate that S4 (O3+GAC) outranks all the other scenarios in terms of both environmental performance and economic viability, primarily due to the advantages associated with effluent reuse. S5 (UF+RO), which also involves reuse, is limited by the high energy consumption of UF+RO, resulting in increased environmental impacts and costs. The physicochemical scenario S2 (Chem Or), currently utilized in the WWTP under study, remains the best-performing technology in the absence of effluent reuse. In contrast, S3 (O3 alone) exhibits the poorest environmental and economic outcomes due to substantial energy requirements for O3 generation and the inability to reuse the treated effluent directly. Lastly, a sensitivity analysis underscores the strong influence of chemical dosages in S1 and S2 on environmental and economic impacts, which is more significant than the impact of water reuse percentages in S4 and S5. The high electricity cost observed during 2022 negatively affects the energy-intensive scenarios (S3-S5), making coagulation-flocculation (S1-S2) even more convenient

Occurrence, seasonal variations and removal of Organic Micropollutants in 76 Wastewater Treatment Plants

The present study shows the results of an experimental survey conducted over 34 months on 76 full-scale Wastewater Treatment Plants located in central Italy with the aim to determine the influent and effluent concentrations of 13 Organic Micropollutants belonging to the class of illicit drugs, pharmaceuticals and steroids. The survey focused on a large set of plants differing for the main characteristics (e.g. treatment capacity, type of lay-out). Based on the values measured in the influent and effluent, removal efficiency of each contaminant in each plant was also determined, as well as the seasonal variation of the influent concentration. Among the monitored pollutants, some illicit drugs (i.e. Benzoylecgonine, 11-nor-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and Ketoprofen showed the highest concentrations in the influent and were also the most frequently detected in the wastewater; nonetheless, the plants were capable of removing these pollutants at high extent (median removal value of 70 %, 65 % and 74 %, respectively). On the other side, steroid concentrations were in most cases under the detection limits. About the type of lay-out, the comparison of the efficiency obtained by the different plants showed that combination of secondary and tertiary treatment provides the best removal for most of the target Organic Micropollutants

Organic micropollutant removal in full-scale rapid sand filters used for drinking water treatment in The Netherlands and Belgium

Biological treatment processes have the potential to remove organic micropollutants (OMPs) during water treatment. The OMP removal capacity of conventional drinking water treatment processes such as rapid sand filters (RSFs), however, has not been studied in detail. We investigated OMP removal and transformation product (TP) formation in seven full-scale RSFs all treating surface water, using high-resolution mass spectrometry based quantitative suspect and non-target screening (NTS). Additionally, we studied the microbial communities with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing (NGS) in both influent and effluent waters as well as the filter medium, and integrated these data to comprehensively assess the processes that affect OMP removal. In the RSF influent, 9 to 30 of the 127 target OMPs were detected. The removal efficiencies ranged from 0 to 93%. A data-driven workflow was established to monitor TPs, based on the combination of NTS feature intensity profiles between influent and effluent samples and the prediction of biotic TPs. The workflow identified 10 TPs, including molecular structure. Microbial community composition analysis showed similar community composition in the influent and effluent of most RSFs, but different from the filter medium, implying that specific microorganisms proliferate in the RSFs. Some of these are able to perform typical processes in water treatment such as nitrification and iron oxidation. However, there was no clear relationship between OMP removal efficiency and microbial community composition. The innovative combination of quantitative analyses, NTS and NGS allowed to characterize real scale biological water treatments, emphasizing the potential of bio-stimulation applications in drinking water treatment. © 2020 The Author

The discovery space of ELT-ANDES. Stars and stellar populations

The ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph (ANDES) is the optical and near-infrared high-resolution echelle spectrograph envisioned for the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). We present a selection of science cases, supported by new calculations and simulations, where ANDES could enable major advances in the fields of stars and stellar populations. We focus on three key areas, including the physics of stellar atmospheres, structure, and evolution; stars of the Milky Way, Local Group, and beyond; and the star-planet connection. The key features of ANDES are its wide wavelength coverage at high spectral resolution and its access to the large collecting area of the ELT. These features position ANDES to address the most compelling and potentially transformative science questions in stellar astrophysics of the decades ahead, including questions which cannot be anticipated today.Comment: 46 pages, 8 figures; submitted to Experimental Astronomy on behalf of the ANDES Science Tea

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

CUBES : the Cassegrain U-band Efficient Spectrograph

In the era of Extremely Large Telescopes, the current generation of 8-10m facilities are likely to remain competitive at ground-UV wavelengths for the foreseeable future. The Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph (CUBES) has been designed to provide high-efficiency (> 40%) observations in the near UV (305-400 nm requirement, 300-420 nm goal) at a spectral resolving power of R >20, 000 (with a lower-resolution, sky-limited mode of R ~7, 000). With the design focusing on maximizing the instrument throughput (ensuring a Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) ~20 per high-resolution element at 313 nm for U ~18.5 mag objects in 1h of observations), it will offer new possibilities in many fields of astrophysics, providing access to key lines of stellar spectra: a tremendous diversity of iron-peak and heavy elements, lighter elements (in particular Beryllium) and light-element molecules (CO, CN, OH), as well as Balmer lines and the Balmer jump (particularly important for young stellar objects). The UV range is also critical in extragalactic studies: the circumgalactic medium of distant galaxies, the contribution of different types of sources to the cosmic UV background, the measurement of H2 and primordial Deuterium in a regime of relatively transparent intergalactic medium, and follow-up of explosive transients. The CUBES project completed a Phase A conceptual design in June 2021 and has now entered the detailed design and construction phase. First science operations are planned for 2028

Fate and removal of emerging contaminants in water and wastewater treatment plants

Organic MicroPollutants (OMPs) – also called Emerging Contaminants or Contaminants of Emerging Concern – include a wide number of chemicals belonging to different classes, e.g. pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), drugs of abuse and their metabolites, steroids and hormones, endocrine-disrupting compounds, surfactants, perfluorinated compounds, phosphoric ester flame retardants, industrial additives and agents, siloxanes, artificial sweeteners, and gasoline additives (Barbosa et al., 2016; Bletsou et al., 2015; Chiavola et al., 2019). In the last two decades, increasing attention has been dedicated to OMPs, as a matter of high risk for public health and environment. (Naidu et al., 2016; Rodriguez-Narvaez et al., 2017; Thomaidi et al., 2016; Vilardi et al., 2017). OMPs are characterized by low environmental concentrations (about ng/L or µg/L), high toxicity, very low biodegradability and resistance to degradation and to conventional treatments. Consequently, they tend to be bioaccumulated in aquatic environments, and to enter the food chain through agriculture products and drinking water (Clarke and Smith, 2011). Measurement of OMPs in the aquatic medium became possible only in the last 20 years, thanks to the improvement of sensitivity and accuracy of the analytical methods; among the different methods, liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS) is increasingly applied for the analysis of some known and unknown emerging contaminants in water. However, for a number of OMPs, the optimization of analysis conditions and procedures is still insufficient to allow routine monitoring (Boni et al., 2018). The scientific community established that one of the main source of release in the environment is represented by the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which are not specifically designed and operated to remove OMPs (Sousa et al., 2017). Therefore, improvements of the WWTPs performance are needed to reduce the load of OMPs released into the environment through either the final effluent and wasted sludge (Trapido et al., 2014). Extent of their removal/transformation in the different units of the WWTPs is still not completely known and depends on numerous parameters and conditions. Therefore, it would be very useful to assess the removal efficiency achievable in the main treatment units, and particularly in the biological process which often represents the core of the plants; it is also important to assess if efficiency can be enhanced by properly modifying the operating conditions (e.g. the sludge retention time). Among the treatment processes investigated so far for the removal of OMPs from wastewater, the biological treatments provided interesting and promising possibilities, in terms of costs and environmental impact with respect to physical-chemical processes, at least for a number of OMPs (Ahmed et al., 2017). Assessment of effective removal in the biological processes is made more complicated because various OMPs transformations can take place in the reactor, determining new compounds release (transformation by-products, TPs) which, to some extent, differ in the environmental behaviour and ecotoxicological profile from the original substance (parent compound, PCs) (Hollender et al., 2017). Furthermore, TPs may be more toxic, persistent and less biodegradable of their parents and are usually unknown and unpredictable. These issues highlight the needs of further investigation which must be based also on non-target screening (NTS) approach (Schollée et al., 2018). In an attempt to fill some of the gaps in the knowledge of OMPs behaviour in water treatment plants, various aspects of the subject were approached in the present Ph.D. thesis. In order to contribute to fill some of the gaps in the knowledge about OMPs in water treatment plants, different aspects of this problem were addressed in the present Ph.D. thesis. Among the wide class of OMPs, the first step of the present study focused on some drugs of abuse, specifically Benzoylecgonine (BE), 11-nor-9carboxy-Δ9-THC (THC-COOH) and Methamphetamine, and on the most abundant perfluorinated compounds present in the environment, which are Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). The double purpose of this part of the thesis, carried out through laboratory scale investigations, was (1) to optimize the analytical method for the detection of these compounds in wastewater and sludge of a WWTP and (2) to determine the removal rate through abiotic and biotic processes in the biological reactor of the WWTP. The results obtained allowed to assess the optimal conditions of the analytical method: therefore, under these conditions, the method is suitable for rapid and reproducible measurements, minimizing the interferences due to the other compounds always found in wastewater and sludge. About goal (2), contribution of biodegradation and other processes (e.g. adsorption and volatilization) was quantified and the kinetic parameters determined. Furthermore, it was evaluated through a standard respirometric procedure (n. 209 OECD) if the presence of these contaminants at increasing concentrations can negatively affect the microbial activity in the biological reactor, and particularly the nitrification and COD oxidation processes. Complementary to the assessment of the removal achieved by the activated sludge processes was the in-depth analysis of the enzyme biocatalytic activity with the aim to enhance the efficiency of the OMPs degradation in the biological reactor. This investigation was carried out at the Auckland University, New Zealand, during a 6-months period of research. Particularly, this innovative approach can induce the synthesis of OMPs degrading enzymes by exposing microbes to cycles of stressing and non-stressing environmental conditions. In the present study, stimulation of oxidoreductase production by microbial cells was favoured by varying the dissolved oxygen concentration within the reactor. This strategy showed to be successful, being capable of enhancing the removal rate of some OMPs; furthermore, its implementation at full-scale would contribute to reduce the energy cost of the aeration system and also allow simultaneous nitrification-denitrification within the same tank (Han et al., 2018; He et al., 2018). As mentioned above, in parallel to the concern about OMPs removal processes, a new issue was highlighted in the past ten years: the formation of transformation products (TPs) from wastewater and water treatment. These substances are often unknown and can be more toxic than their precursors (Li et al., 2017). Several studies focused on TPs produced by wastewater treatment and on their environmental risk assessment (Bletsou et al., 2015; Schollée et al., 2018, 2016; Schymanski et al., 2015). However, the knowledge and scientific data concerning TP monitoring in drinking water are still limited

Comparison of Adsorptive Removal of Fluoride from Water by Different Adsorbents under Laboratory and Real Conditions

The fluoride removal capability of six different adsorbents (four commercial, i.e., titanium dioxide-TiO2, ArsenXPnp-A33E, granular activated carbon (GAC) and granular ferric hydroxide (GFH), and two laboratory media, i.e., nano-fine media and nano-granular media) was determined under batch conditions using synthetic and real contaminated water containing arsenic and vanadium. The kinetic and equilibrium characteristics of the adsorption process under different operating conditions (pH value, initial fluoride concentration, adsorbent dosage, water composition) were obtained. Among the tested adsorbents, TiO2 showed the highest adsorption capacity; it was also capable of reducing fluoride concentration below the limit set for drinking water without pH control. TiO2 still remained the best adsorbent in the treatment of real contaminated groundwater, where it was also capable of efficiently removing both arsenic and vanadium. The other adsorbents were capable of achieving the same fluoride reduction, although only for acid pH. The nano-sized laboratory media showed an adsorption removal efficiency below that of TiO2 but superior to that of A33E, GAC and GFH. Among the investigated parameters, the removal efficiency was mainly affected by adsorbent dosage and pH. The pseudo-second order model best fitted the kinetic experimental data of all the media. The maximum adsorption capacity predicted by this model was in the following decreasing order: TiO2 > A33E > GAC > GFH. The removal capability of all the media drastically decreased due to the presence of competitive ions and unfavorable pH conditions. The best isotherm model changed depending on the type of adsorbent and pH conditions

The quality of urban rivers with respect to the Contaminants of Emerging Concern

The chapter deals with the topic of the quality of urban rivers with regard to some types of contaminants. This is also an important issue for the enviromental quelification of the Aniene river, wich for long stretches flows near production areas of various types, including the area of the Tiburtine quartiers