The pathways of microplastics contamination in raw and drinking water

Abstract

An assessment of the susceptibility of the raw and treated drinking water to microplastics (MP) contamination was conducted because of the inherent low density and size (<5 mm) of MP that enhances the mobility and pervasiveness in environmental media. Although, the ecological and physiological effects of MP is still under scrutiny but assessing the vulnerability of the drinking water system is paramount to the development of ameliorating strategies for the possible impacts. The susceptibility was evaluated using the transport pathway and dynamics of MP in soil matrix and the treatment efficiency of the municipal DWTP. MP is more prevalent in the surface water system than the groundwater (GW) system. Despite the high removal efficiency of the surface water-fed DWTP, the product still contained undesirable magnitude of MP. Low MP concentration was reported in the water produced from GW-fed DWTP. Despite the fact that soil is the sink of MP, the mobility within the matrix is very low. The low mobility was attributed to the occurrence of upward flow, caused by reverse pathway, which is enhanced by the inherent low density and size of MP.