Abstract
If it is possible to develop an efficient process of removing estrogens from wastewater during sewage treatment, the load of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the water environment could be greatly reduced. In this study, the removal of estrogens from municipal wastewater by coagulation and foam separation using coagulant and milk casein was examined. The ELISA method was used to measure the efficiency of estrogen removal. In the conventional foam separation method, the removal efficiency of suspended solids was very high. However, most of the estrogen remained in the treated water since approximately 95% of the total estrogen in wastewater was in the dissolved fraction, while the amount of estrogens in the solid fraction was extremely small. Therefore, the removal of dissolved estrogen was difficult using the conventional foam separation process for removing solids. The addition of powdered activated carbon was examined as a pretreatment process. The adsorption efficiency of estrogen to activated carbon was markedly higher than that of other soluble fractions such as E260 (ultraviolet absorbance at 260 nm), chromaticity, and dissolved organic carbon in wastewater. With the addition of powdered activated carbon, both suspended solids and estrogen could be removed by coagulation and foam separation. The removal efficiencies of turbidity and estrogen were 99% and 94%, respectively, under the following dosage conditions: activated carbon, 50mg·l-1 ; ferric coagulant, 30mg-Fe·l-1 ; and casein, 50mg·l-1.
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