Environmental micropollutants – the role of concentration on treatability, technological treatment options, and business considerations

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PCPPs) are an emerging class of water pollutants, which have the potential for human health and adverse environmental impacts. This thesis will seek to answer key questions related to biological treatment, adsorption processes, the viability of advanced treatment processes, and business considerations to remove PCPPs from water. The hypotheses are: How does the concentration of these micropollutants affect their ability to be treated? How are carbon adsorption and biological treatment affected by competition of other substrates? To what extent will current technology allow for their safe removal from discharge sources? Addressing these questions will be accomplished with Monte Carlo simulations and kinetics modeling.

To successfully remove these micropollutants, biological, chemical adsorption, and other novel treatment methods were explored to ascertain if these methods could be utilized to remove these substance from water and wastewater. It was found that currently available treatment methods (biological and chemical adsorption) are highly dependent upon the competitive effects that occur as a result of the other constituents within wastewater. Therefore, advances processes like wet-air oxidation, Reverse Osmosis, and Plasma Arc Waste Disposal must be considered to adequately remove these compounds.