Abstract
Broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotics (ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin), carbapenem and fluoroquinolone resistance genes, as well as viral genomes, were detected in grab samples of wastewater effluents. Passive samplers, which are simpler and easier to use and provide information about the concentrations and combination of contaminants present in a certain fluid matrix over time, proved to be extremely promising devices to monitor the presence of the target antibiotics in wastewater effluents. Nanofiltration was tested with a pilot-scale unit installed at a domestic wastewater treatment facility, using a Desal 5DK membrane operated at a constant transmembrane pressure of 6 bar and 70% recovery rate. In a 24 h experimental assay, the variation of the membrane permeance was low (6.3%). High rejections of the target contaminants from the wastewater effluent were obtained by the pilot-scale treatment. Hence, nanofiltration using the Desal 5DK membrane is considered to be a promising treatment to cope with chemical and biological contaminants present in wastewater effluents.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Population growth, urbanization, industrialization, agricultural expansion and climate change globally intensified massive freshwater consumption [1]
The occurrence of ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin in the wastewater effluent was evaluated from October 2018 until December 2019
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. There is an urgent need for the development of effective treatment solutions as an alternative to the conventional wastewater treatment processes to avoid the release of these contaminants in the aquatic environment In this way, membrane filtration processes such as nanofiltration and reverse osmosis could be considered a promising solution for the treatment of effluents with several emerging contaminants like antibiotics, antibiotic resistance genes and viruses. All samples were stored at −20 ◦C, filtered and were further analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS Following this procedure, the percent recovery of each target antibiotic spiked in the same wastewater effluent was 21 ± 5% and 49 ± 1%, for ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, respectively. For the determination of the time-weighted average concentrations, the sampling rate, i.e., the volume of water cleared per unit of time for a given compound, must be estimated. The results obtained are presented in the Supporting Information section and discussed as proposed in the EU Commission Decision 2002/657/EC according to the following criteria: (i) the retention time of the compound in the real sample must not vary more than ±2.5% from the retention times corresponding to the calibration standards, (ii) the MRM1/MRM2 ratio for target compounds in samples do not deviate more than 20–30% when comparing with the same values obtained for the calibration standards, and (iii) the signal/noise ratio must be higher than 10
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