Abstract
Removal of a mixture of 13 pharmaceutical compounds was investigated in this work in a horizontal subsurface flow electroconductive filter. Biofilter was constructed using electroconductive carbon with capacity for allowing the electron flow between microbial communities at different redox environments; under a configuration called snorkel. Stable operation was observed during 200days, with medium values for COD and N-NH4 removal of 92±3% and 70±10%, respectively under different organic loading rates. Most of the pharmaceuticals tested were removed above 90% (seven compounds) at HRT of 1day while 65% were removed at HRT as low as 0.5days.These results were corroborated by analysing the detoxification efficiency of the biofilter using microcrustaceans and a green alga as bioreporters. Results revealed that effluents were detoxified in 80% for HRT of 0.5days. Electroconductive biofilter was proved as a promising technology for the elimination of emerging pollutant from wastewater with minimum operational requirements.
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