Abstract
Reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate from wastewater reuse facilities contains concentrated emerging pollutants, such as pharmaceuticals. In this research, a paper-like composite sheet consisting of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zeolite was synthesized, and removal of the antipruritic agent crotamiton from RO concentrate was studied using the TiO2/zeolite composite sheet. The RO concentrate was obtained from a pilot-scale municipal secondary effluent reclamation plant. Effective immobilization of the two powders in the sheet made it easy to handle and to separate the photocatalyst and adsorbent from purified water. The TiO2/zeolite composite sheet showed excellent performance for crotamiton adsorption without obvious inhibition by other components in the RO concentrate. With ultraviolet irradiation, crotamiton was simultaneously removed through adsorption and photocatalysis. The photocatalytic decomposition of crotamiton in the RO concentrate was significantly inhibited by the water matrix at high initial crotamiton concentrations, whereas rapid decomposition was achieved at low initial crotamiton concentrations. The major degradation intermediates were also adsorbed by the composite sheet. This result provides a promising method of mitigating secondary pollution caused by the harmful intermediates produced during advanced oxidation processes. The cyclic use of the HSZ-385/P25 composite sheet indicated the feasibility of continuously removing crotamiton from RO concentrate.
Highlights
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a well-established technology for water desalination, the production of potable water, and more recently, tertiary wastewater treatment [1,2]
We confirmed that crotamiton was rapidly adsorbed by concentrate
Crotamiton is effectively adsorbed by the HSZ-385/P25 composite sheet without obvious inhibition by other components of the RO concentrate
Summary
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a well-established technology for water desalination, the production of potable water, and more recently, tertiary wastewater treatment [1,2]. Along with the purification of wastewater, the RO process produces a concentrate containing high levels of rejected pollutants (about 15–20% of the influent volume) [4]. Some of the emerging pollutants, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, are very persistent in sewage effluent, resulting in raised awareness of the environmental risk of RO concentrates [1,5,6]. Genotoxicity evaluation using the SOS/umu test has provided direct evidence that RO concentrates have much higher toxicological risk than RO influents [7].
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