Water treatment plants and pharmaceutical residues in Catalonia and Italy

This study analyses the occurrence of commonly administered pharmaceuticals in urban and treated wastewater and surface waters in Catalonia and Italy, reviewing recently published investigations. The reported removal efficiencies in common municipal wastewater treatment plants are also discussed and pharmaceutical load discharged after these treatments are analysed. Finally, environmental risk posed by the presence of some of these compounds in surface water is discussed, and a case study highlighting the issue of pharmaceutical residues in the environment is presented. [Contrib Sci 10:135-150 (2014)

Electrochemical disinfection of groundwater for civil use – An example of an effective endogenous advanced oxidation process

Lab-scale experiments using real groundwater were carried out using the CabECO® reactor system in order to evaluate its suitability for producing safe water, acceptable for civil purposes. Trials were carried out in discontinuous and in continuous mode, analyzing the influence of electrical and hydraulic process parameters on the quality of treated water. The use of highly boron-doped diamond electrodes in the reactor allowed the electrosynthesis of considerable amounts of ozone. Because of the relatively high amount of chloride in the groundwater samples, a mixture of HOCl/ClO- was also synthesized. Somewhat unexpectedly, the increase in the current density in the explored range 100 -1000 A m-2 was accompanied by an increase in the faradaic yield of the electrosynthesis of oxidants, which was more pronounced for ozone than for free chlorine. As reported in literature, the main radical intermediate in the relevant reactions is ●OH, which can lead to different oxidation products, namely ozone and HOCl/ClO-. The electrolytic treatment also caused a decrease in the concentration of minor components, including NH4+ and Br-. Other byproducts were ClO3- and ClO4-, although their concentration levels were low. Moreover, due to alkali formation at the cathode surface, the precipitation of calcium and magnesium carbonates was also observed. In addition, the experimental investigation showed that even Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Legionella could be completely removed in the treated stream, due to the unique capacity of the reactor to synthesize biocidal agents like ozone, HOCl/ClO-, and chloramines. These effects were particularly evident during batch experiments.Lab-scale experiments using real groundwater were carried out using the CabECO® reactor system in order to evaluate its suitability for producing safe water, acceptable for civil purposes. Trials were carried out in discontinuous and in continuous mode, analyzing the influence of electrical and hydraulic process parameters on the quality of treated water. The use of highly boron-doped diamond electrodes in the reactor allowed the electrosynthesis of considerable amounts of ozone. Because of the relatively high amount of chloride in the groundwater samples, a mixture of HOCl/ClO− was also synthesized. Somewhat unexpectedly, the increase in the current density in the explored range 100–1000 A m−2 was accompanied by an increase in the faradaic yield of the electrosynthesis of oxidants, which was more pronounced for ozone than for free chlorine. As reported in literature, the main radical intermediate in the relevant reactions is [rad]OH, which can lead to different oxidation products, namely ozone and HOCl/ClO−. The electrolytic treatment also caused a decrease in the concentration of minor components, including NH4+ and Br−. Other byproducts were ClO3− and ClO4−, although their concentration levels were low. Moreover, due to alkali formation at the cathode surface, the precipitation of calcium and magnesium carbonates was also observed. In addition, the experimental investigation showed that even Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Legionella could be completely removed in the treated stream, due to the unique capacity of the reactor to synthesize biocidal agents like ozone, HOCl/ClO−, and chloramines. These effects were particularly evident during batch experiments

Improvement in the removal of micropollutants at Porto Marghera industrial wastewaters treatment plant by MBR technology.

This paper deals with the case of one of the most important industrial application of membrane technology in the world: the upgrading of the main industrial wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the petrochemical site of Porto Marghera, Northern Italy, completed on December 2005 and tested on September 2006. It describes the principal interventions of the plant upgrading and it discusses the removal obtained during the test periods for conventional pollutants as well as for micropollutants. The plant upgrading consisted of a series of improvements of the existing industrial WWTP, in order to increase the removal efficiency of the total suspended solids and the associate removal of ten micropollutant compounds, the so called forbidden substances. The most important intervention was the conversion of the existing activated sludge section into a membrane biological reactor, in order to guarantee adherence to the severe limits imposed by the special law issued to protect the Venice Lagoon, with particular reference to the mentioned 10 forbidden compounds. The experimental results and the numerous test-runs conducted confirmed the respect of the legal limits for the pollutants in the final effluent as well of the required removal rates for the different parameters. Therefore, the upgraded treatment plant was declared agreeing with the approved design

Surface and Groundwater Quality in South African Area—Analysis of the Most Critical Pollutants for Drinking Purposes

According to a recent report by World Health Organization, the countries which still have limited access to water for drinking purposes are mainly those in the Sub-Saharan region. (Potential) water sources for drinking needs may contain different contaminants. In this context, the current study consists in an overview of the quality of surface water and groundwater in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and Mozambique (MZ) and provides the variability ranges of the concentrations of the main pollutants in the two countries. Chemical and physical characteristics and concentrations of macropollutants, inorganic compounds (metals) and selected microorganisms were collected for surface water and groundwater and compared with the standards for drinking water set in the two countries. It was found that in surface water, microorganisms were always at very high concentrations. In addition, nickel (in RSA) and boron and chlorine (in MZ) were the most critical compounds. It emerged that in groundwater, arsenic, lead and chlorine (in RSA) and boron, sodium and chlorine (in MZ) were the main critical pollutants. Adequate treatments in the construction of new drinking water plants in rural areas should be selected on the basis of these most critical compounds and their observed variability over time

Current trends in special waste treatments: the results of a survey and alternatives in upgrading a wastewater cotreatment plant,

The present paper reports the results of an investigation carried out among the main Italian Municipalities referring to the actual leachate and septage sludge treatments at municipal wastewater treatment plants where they may be fed into either the water line or the sludge line. The discussion of the results shows how many alternatives have been chosen in realizing cotreatment sections and referring to the future trend of treatments among the Municipalities. Moreover it underlines the lack of national guidelines to follow for the upgrading of existing plants and for the realization of new ones. In the second part, the paper reports the first indications provided by a research carrying forward at the wastewater treatment plant of Ferrara, Northern Italy, about the possible upgrading actions at the local existing plant in order to increase the treated quantity of leachate and septage without causing serious operation problems

Despo Fatta-Kassinos, Dionysios D. Dionysiou, Klaus Kümmerer (Eds.): Advanced treatment technologies for urban wastewater reuse

The paper is a review of a book on Advanced treatment technologies for urban wastewater reuse, editors Despo Fatta-Kassinos, Dionysios D. Dionysiou, Klaus Kümmerer published in the Series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, Vol. 45 by Springer. ISBN: 978-3-319-23885-

Hospital Wastewaters - Characteristics, Management, Treatment and Environmental Risks

This volume addresses hospital effluents in terms of their composition and the management and treatment strategies currently (being) adopted around the globe. In this context, one major focus is on pharmaceutical compounds: their observed concentration range, ecotoxicological effects, and the removal efficiency achieved by the different technologies. Another focus is on management strategies (dedicated hospital wastewater treatment, or a combined approach also involving urban wastewater) and currently adopted treatments to reduce the released pollutant load. Innovative and promising technologies under investigation at the lab and pilot scale are presented. A discussion of remaining knowledge gaps and future research requirements rounds out the coverage. The respective chapters, written by experts in the different fields, provide useful information for a broad audience: scientists involved in the management and treatment of hospital effluents and wastewater containing micropollutants, administrators and decision-makers, legislators involved in the authorization and management of healthcare structure effluents, and environmental engineers involved in the design of wastewater treatment plants,as well as newcomers and students interested in these issue