Removal of Organic Pollution in the Water Environment

Joanna Karpińska,Urszula Kotowska

doi:10.3390/w11102017

Abstract

The development of civilization entails a growing demand for consumer goods. A side effect of the production and use of these materials is the production of solid waste and wastewater. Municipal and industrial wastewater usually contain a large amount of various organic compounds and are the main source of pollution of the aquatic environment with these substances. Therefore, the search for effective methods of wastewater and other polluted water treatment is an important element of caring for the natural environment. This Special Issue contains nine peer-review articles presenting research on the determination and removal of environmentally hazardous organic compounds from aqueous samples. The presented articles were categorized into three major fields: new approaches to the degradation of water pollutants, new methods of isolation and determination of the emerging organic contaminants (EOCs), and the occurrence of EOCs in the water environment. These articles present only selected issues from a very wide area, which is the removal of organic pollution in water environment, but can serve as important references for future studies.

Highlights

Water is essential for life, and approximately 70% of the Earth’ surface is covered with water, only a small fraction (2.5%) is freshwater compatible with terrestrial life
The authors focused on the problem of cleaning wastewater generated by the petroleum industry. They proposed the use of continuous liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane (CLLEDCM ) and high-power fractional distillation (HPFD) to resolve this problem
The presented Special Issue concerns the problem of the appearance of new organic pollutants in surface water bodies

Summary

Introduction

Water is essential for life, and approximately 70% of the Earth’ surface is covered with water, only a small fraction (2.5%) is freshwater compatible with terrestrial life. Co-metabolism is the degradation of organic pollutants by microorganisms when using other substances as a source of nutrients [17] It is the basic mechanism of biodegradation of EOCs due to their very low concentrations in wastewater. There is demand for the use additional processes like precipitation and chemical coagulation, flocculation, desorption, neutralization, and reverse osmosis for more thorough purification These methods, in many cases, are not sufficiently effective in eliminating pollution, or the economical side of carrying out prevents them from being used on a larger scale wastewater treatment. The application of physico-chemical processes causes a transfer of EOCs from the water phase to the receiving material or solid phase, which are new wastes, the management of which creates new environmental problems Another approach is applied by the so called advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) [19]. The use of such systems improves the cleaning effects by increasing the efficiency of mineralization of EOCs and reducing the amount of products of incomplete oxidation [21]

Overview of the Special Issue

New Methods of EOCs Isolation and Determination

Occurrence of EOCs in the Environment

New Approaches to Degradation of Water Pollutants

Findings

Conclusions