Performance stability of reactors in disseminating COD and ammonium in domestic wastewater contaminated with pharmaceutical residues

Abstract

Currently, the use of PPCP products has increased significantly. Personal Pharmaceutical Care Products (PPCPs) enter the environment through human activities and residue from hospital and community use. The effect of increasing the concentration of amoxicillin as a pharmaceutical residue on bacterial growth and removing COD and ammonium was investigated on the intermittent and continuous reactor’s performance. The study was started with seven days of seeding acclimatization and running for twenty days. An increase in the concentration of pharmaceutical residue pollutants was carried out every five days. The sediment used came from the septic tank sediment and used artificial waste with an initial COD of 100 mg/l and an initial Ammonium of 80 mg/l. The results showed that the increase in the concentration of pharmaceutical residual pollutants in the operational reactor affected COD removal efficiency and ammonium efficiency. The efficiency of COD reduction at increasing concentrations of amoxicillin 0 mg/l, 5 mg/l, 10 mg/l and 20 mg/l were 58.06%, respectively; 48.48%; 41.18% and 35.14%. Meanwhile, the highest ammonium reduction rate was when the increasing amoxicillin concentration to 5 mg/l with the ammonium reduction rate of 3.98 NH4 + -N/l.day.