Proposal of enhanced treatment process based on actual pilot plant for removal of micropharmaceuticals in sewage treatment plants

Abstract

This study was carried out to increase the treatment efficiency through the improvement of the conventional biological process, and to propose the optimal treatment direction. The optimal treatment conditions were derived based on the results of the spike damage tests in each single process. The removal efficiency of micropharmaceuticals was further increased when an ozone treatment process was added to the biological process compared to the single process. The soil and activated carbon adsorption process was introduced in the post-treatment to remove the micropharmaceutical residues, and the removal efficiency of the pharmaceduticals in the final effluent was more than 85% in spike damage experiment. In particular, the continuous process of biological treatment-ozone-adsorption could ensure the stable treatment of micropharmaceuticals, which had not been efficiently removed in the single process, as it showed more than 80% removal efficiency. Therefore, it is expected that the addition of the ozone oxidation and activated carbon adsorption process to the existing sewage treatment facilities can contribute to the efficient removal of micropharmaceuticals.