Presence and Reduction of Anthropogenic Substances with UV Light and Oxidizing Disinfectants in Wastewater—A Case Study at Kuopio, Finland

Anthropogenic substances are a major concern due to their potential harmful effects towards aquatic ecosystems. Because wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are not designed to remove these substances from wastewater, a part of the anthropogenic substances enter nature via WWTP discharges. During the spring 2019, the occurrence of anthropogenic substances in the municipal wastewater effluent in Kuopio, Finland, was analysed. Furthermore, the capacity of selected disinfection methods to reduce these substances from wastewater was tested. The disinfection methods were ozonation (760 mL min−1) with an OxTube hermetic dissolution method (1), the combined usage of peracetic acid (PAA) (<5 mg L−1) and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection (12 mJ/cm2) (2), and the combined usage of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (<10 mg L−1) and UV disinfection (12 mJ/cm2) (3). The substances found at the concentrations over 1 µg L−1 in effluent (N = 3) were cetirizine (5.2 ± 1.3 µg L−1), benzotriazole (BZT) (2.1 ± 0.98 µg L−1), hydrochlorothiazide (1.7 ± 0.2 µg L−1), furosemide (1.6 ± 0.2 µg L−1), lamotrigine (1.5 ± 0.06 µg L−1), diclofenac (DCF) (1.4 ± 0.2 µg L−1), venlafaxine (1.0 ± 0.13 µg L−1) and losartan (0.9 ± 0.2 µg L−1). The reduction (%) with different methods (1, 2, 3) were: cetirizine (99.9, 5.0, NR = no removal), benzotriazole (67.9, NR, NR), hydrochlorothiazide (91.1, 5.9, NR), furosemide (99.7, 5.9, NR), lamotrigine (46.4, NR, 6.7), diclofenac (99.7, 7.1, 16.7), venlafaxine (91.3, NR, 1.1), losartan (99.6, 13.8, NR). Further research concerning the tested disinfection methods is needed in order to fully elucidate their potential for removing anthropogenic substances from purified wastewater.