scholarly journals Exclusion of Estrogenic and Androgenic Steroid Hormones from Municipal Membrane Bioreactor Wastewater Using UF/NF/RO Membranes for Water Reuse Application

Membranes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mujahid Aziz ◽  
Tunde Ojumu

In the context of water scarcity, domestic secondary effluent reuse may be an option as a reliable source for alleviating acute water shortage. The increasing risks linked with the presence of natural steroid hormones and many emerging anthropogenic micropollutants (MPs) passing through municipal wastewater treatment works (MWWTWs) are of concern for their endocrine-disrupting activities. In this study, domestic wastewater treated by a full-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) at an MWWTW in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, was used directly as the influent to a reverse osmosis (RO) pilot plant for the removal of selected natural steroid hormones 17β-estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T) as a potential indirect water recycling application. Estrogenicity and androgenicity were assessed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and the recombinant yeast estrogen receptor binding assays (YES). The influent pH and flux did not influence the rejection of E2 and T, which was most likely due to adsorption, size exclusion, and diffusion simultaneously. RO and nanofiltration (NF) exhibited excellent removal rates (>95%) for E2 and T. All the E2 effluent samples with MBR/ultrafiltration (UF), MBR/NF, and MBR/RO were lower than the US EPA and WHO trigger value of 0.7 ng/L, as well as the predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) values for fish (1 ng E2/L).

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Colosi ◽  
Eleazer P. Resurreccion ◽  
Yongli Zhang

This study uses a systems-level modeling approach to illustrate a novel synergy between municipal wastewater treatment and large-scale algaculture for production of bio-energy, whereby algae-mediated tertiary treatment provides efficient removal of unregulated, strongly estrogenic steroid hormones from the secondary effluent.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mujahid Aziz ◽  
Godwill Kasongo

Membrane technology has advanced substantially as a preferred choice for the exclusion of widespread pollutants for reclaiming water from various treatment effluent. Currently, little information is available about Ultrafiltration (UF)/Nanofiltration (NF)/Reverse Osmosis (RO) performance at a pilot scale as a practical engineering application. In this study, the effluent from a full-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) municipal wastewater treatment works (MWWTWs) was treated with an RO pilot plant. The aim was to evaluate the effect of operating conditions in the removal of selected inorganics as a potential indirect water reuse application. The influent pH, flux, and membrane recovery were the operating conditions varied to measure its influence on the rejection rate. MBR/RO exhibited excellent removal rates (>90%) for all selected inorganics and met the standard requirements for reuse in cooling and irrigation system applications. The UF and NF reduction of inorganics was shown to be limited to meet water standards for some of the reuse applications due to the high Electron Conductivity (EC > 250 μS·cm−1) levels. The MBR/NF was irrigation and cooling system compliant, while for the MBR/UF, only the cooling system was compliant.


2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 821-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Kazner ◽  
T. Wintgens ◽  
T. Melin ◽  
S. Baghoth ◽  
S. Sharma ◽  
...  

Direct nanofiltration and nanofiltration combined with powdered activated carbon known as the PAC/NF process were tested regarding the removal of effluent organic matter for reclamation of tertiary effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant. They can be regarded as a promising treatment alternative for high quality water reuse applications, especially for direct injection. The total removal for DOC was above 90% with permeate concentrations below 0.5 mg/l. Size exclusion chromatography and fluorescence EEM proved to trace origin of the organic matter even in low concentration ranges. The type and dosage of adsorbent influences the process performance significantly and allows process optimization.


2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 1272-1283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Citulski ◽  
Khosrow Farahbakhsh ◽  
Fraser Kent

In-line addition of alum and ferric chloride was conducted at a hollow-fibre immersed ultrafiltration (UF) membrane pilot plant, using secondary effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) as the feed. The objective of such pretreatment was to remove phosphorus from the feed from an initial concentration of approximately 5 mg/L to below 0.3 mg/L. The simplified in-line coagulant addition process involved hydraulic mixing of the coagulant into the feed and subsequent flocculation, and a greatly reduced (12–14 min) flocculation time relative to conventional coagulation-flocculation-settling treatment. Both alum and ferric chloride effectively removed phosphorus to below the 0.3 mg/L threshold when applied as a pretreatment at optimized doses, both of which were below the WWTP’s current coagulant dose (as ferrous chloride). This simplified pre-treatment scheme provided consistent enhanced removal of phosphorus and organic compounds. These results suggest that simplified in-line coagulant addition in advance of immersed UF membranes enhances the ability to produce treated effluent suitable for water-reuse applications.


2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Iborra-Clar ◽  
J.A. Mendoza-Roca ◽  
A. Bes-Pií ◽  
J.J. Morenilla-Martínez ◽  
I. Bernácer-Bonora ◽  
...  

Rainfall diminution in the last years has entailed water scarcity in plenty of European regions, especially in Mediterranean areas. As a consequence, regional water authorities have enhanced wastewater reclamation and reuse. Thus, the implementation of tertiary treatments has become of paramount importance in the municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) of Valencian Region (Spain). Conventional tertiary treatments consist of a physico-chemical treatment of the secondary effluent followed by sand filtration and UV radiation. However, the addition of coagulants and flocculants sometimes does not contribute significantly in the final water quality. In this work, results of 20-months operation of three WWTP in Valencian Region with different tertiary treatments (two without chemicals addition and another with chemicals addition) are discussed. Besides, experiments with a 2 m3/h pilot plant located in the WWTP Quart-Benager in Valencia were performed in order to evaluate with the same secondary effluent the effect of the chemicals addition on the final water quality. Results showed that the addition of chemicals did not improve the final water quality significantly. These results were observed both comparing the three full scale plants and in the pilot plant operation.


1994 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 125-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Carnimeo ◽  
E. Contini ◽  
R. Di Marino ◽  
F. Donadio ◽  
L. Liberti ◽  
...  

The pilot investigation on the use of UV as an alternative disinfectant to NaOCI was started in 1992 at Trani (South Italy) municipal wastewater treatment plant (335 m3/h). The results collected after six months continuous operation enabled us to compare UV and NaOCl disinfection effectiveness on the basis of secondary effluent characteristics, quantify photoreactivation effects, evidence possible DBP formation and assess costs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 838-841 ◽  
pp. 2712-2716
Author(s):  
Yong Tu ◽  
Yong Gang Bai ◽  
Yong Chen ◽  
Wei Jing Liu ◽  
Jun Xu ◽  
...  

The research on ultrafiltration membrane assisted by powdered zeolite for the treatment of secondary effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant was studied. The results show that membrane fouling rate is reduced by pre-coating the ultrafiltration membrane with powdered zeolite, and the treatment performance of secondary effluent is enhanced. UV-vis, three-dimensional excitation emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence spectra and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images for ultrafiltration were also discussed.


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