Abstract
Global water scarcity is driving the need for identifying new water source. Wastewater could be a potential water resource if appropriate treatment technologies could be developed. One of the barriers to obtaining high quality water from wastewater arises from the presence of organic micropollutants, which are biologically active at trace levels. Removal of these compounds from wastewater by current physico-chemical technologies is prohibitively expensive. While biological treatment processes are comparatively cheap, current systems are not capable of degrading the wide range of organic micropollutants present in wastewater. As current wastewater treatment processes were developed for treating conventional pollutants present at mg/L levels, degrading the ng/L levels of micropollutants will require a different approach to system design and operation. In this paper we discuss strategies that could be employed to develop biological wastewater treatment systems capable of degrading organic micropollutants.
Highlights
Reviewed by: Dimitra Zaharaki, Technical University of Crete, Greece Georgios Bartzas, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
One of the barriers to obtaining high quality water from wastewater arises from the presence of organic micropollutants, which are biologically active at trace levels
As current wastewater treatment processes were developed for treating conventional pollutants present at mg/L levels, degrading the ng/L levels of micropollutants will require a different approach to system design and operation
Summary
Degrading Organic Micropollutants: The Challenge in the Evolution of Biological Wastewater Treatment Processes. One of the barriers to obtaining high quality water from wastewater arises from the presence of organic micropollutants, which are biologically active at trace levels Removal of these compounds from wastewater by current physico-chemical technologies is prohibitively expensive. The Oxford English Dictionary defines wastewater as superfluous water, or water that has served its purpose This definition of wastewater is ingrained in our perception and attitude. As the river meanders downstream, water increasingly enriched by upstream discharges of wastewater serves as a source of potable water for downstream communities. Such observations support the view that wastewater is better defined as a potential water resource that is currently wasted. Wastewater has been overlooked as a potential water resource, it could become an option if appropriate treatment technologies can be developed
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