Efficiency Of Treatment Plants Research Articles

Unravelling capability of municipal wastewater treatment plant in Thailand for microplastics: Effects of seasonality on detection, fate and transport

Many factors can affect microplastics (MPs) behaviors in aquatic environments. The effects of seasonal and meteorological conditions on MPs are not well understood. This study demonstrates the impacts of seasonality on the fate and transport, and the efficacy of MPs removal by a wastewater treatment plant. The fate and transport of MPs at a WWTP in Nonthaburi, Thailand were tracked during the dry and wet seasons of 2019–2020. Polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and toothpaste formulations were the most abundant MP types observed. Total detected MP quantities ranged between 76 and 192 particles L−1 during the dry season, and only 36–68 particles L−1 during the wet season, indicating runoff dilution effects. T-test analysis found a statistically significant difference between MP concentrations between the dry and wet seasons of 2019–2020. Spearman's correlation showed statistically strong negative relationships between MP concentrations versus wastewater flow, and MP concentrations versus precipitation; a positive correlation between MP abundance versus temperature in the treatment system was observed. During the dry seasons, MPs were mostly found in the aeration process, and were mostly rayon or polyester particles in the shape of fibers. Contrarily, in the wet seasons, MPs were detected in both the raw influent and aeration process, with PE, polyacrylate, and polyethylene terephthalate fragments dominating the make-up. MPs were also detected in the return activated sludge, thus calling for proper sludge age and drainage management. No MPs were detected in the plant's effluent during the wet season, suggesting that the plant had sufficient MPs removal capability during normal wet-season conditions. Overall, this study suggests that municipalities should focus on increasing MPs removal efficiency of wastewater treatment plants for dry seasons, while properly managing the water flows of combined sewage systems to prevent overflows that may inevitably become point-sources of MPs release into water bodies during wet seasons.

Behavior of Microorganisms from Wastewater Treatments in Extremely Low-Frequency Electric Field

The paper presents the research results regarding the metabolism of microorganisms from domestic wastewater treatment-activated sludge. The research approached this issue by dielectric spectroscopy measurements, chemical analyses, and specific microbiological techniques. In addition, the influence of extremely low-frequency (ELF) electric fields (1÷500 Hz) on microbial metabolism was studied. Four representative frequencies have been identified: 49.9, 99.9, 130.8, and 150.4 Hz using dielectric spectroscopy applied to the investigated samples. Also, dielectric loss and conductivity evolutions showed significant discontinuities, indicating oscillation/resonance phenomena in the investigated biomass, unlike the sterilized sludge samples (obtained either by boiling or electrically, applying a voltage that creates a 100 V/m electric field strength on the sample), which did not show discontinuities; instead, the values of tgδ and σ were approx. 5-6 times larger. Chemical and microbiological tests have shown that the metabolism, growth, and multiplication of microorganisms in activated sludge are significantly increased after exposure to 4-6 V/m electric field strength of 50 Hz. The research may continue by developing equipment and a bioelectrotechnological process to significantly increase the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants.

Evaluating the efficiency of municipal wastewater treatment plant in AL-Dhibaei, Iraq

Evaluating the efficiency of municipal wastewater treatment plant in AL-Dhibaei, Iraq

An inquiry into the relationships between BOD5, COD, and TOC in Tigris River, Maysan Province, Iraq

Despite its universally wide use in water quality indices and evaluating the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants, chemical oxygen demand (COD) or biological oxygen demand (BOD5) analyses have disadvantages such as being imprecise, time-consuming, insensitive, as well as the production of hazardous wastes. Total organic carbon (TOC) will introduce as an alternative analysis, the relationship between BOD5, COD, and TOC has been investigated in this study. A total number of 216 samples were taken from three stations (kumait, Al Amara, and Al Majar Al Kabeer) in Tigris River, Maysan Province, Iraq. The sampling was on a monthly basis during a two-year period. The tests were performed according to ASTM D7573 - 18ae1, ASTM D6238-98, and ASTM D125-06 for TOC, BOD5, and COD respectively at the Pollution Research Centre of the Al-Shatra Institute, the data were statistically analyzed using the SPSS program to predict a relationship between the COD or BOD5 and TOC. The analysis showed a good relationship concerning to a value of correlation coefficient, i.e., r = 0.93 or r = 0.94 between TOC and BOD5 or COD respectively, as well as the coefficient of determination, i.e., R2 = 0.91 or R2 = 0.92 between TOC and BOD5 or COD respectively. The validation of the suggested formulas has been tested using data from the Pollutant Centre in Al Shatra Institute for Shat al Gharaf River. The formulas gave reasonably acceptable values. It could be used in monitoring water quality and wastewater plants as a surrogate parameter to have pre-impression of the plant efficiency.

A Study of the Tofu Industry Environmental Impact Condition and Scenario Treatment Using Life Cycle Assessment Approach

One of the types of tofu industries in Indonesia is that the small-scale tofu industry was located in the East Jombor, Ketapang Village, to be precise, on the Blorong River. The Simplified Tofu Industry, with a 1300 kg/day production capacity, produces liquid waste that is disposed of into the Blorong River with a BOD parameter of 2,726 mg/L, COD of 4,972 mg/L, and TSS of 388 mg/L.These values greatly exceed the quality standards based on the Regional Regulation of Central Java Province Number 10 of 2004 concerning Tofu Industry. The entry of these pollutants into the Blorong River, over time, can cause water bodies to become toxic and pollute the Blorong River. Therefore, one of the efforts to protect this river's environmental conditions is to increase the efficiency of the Wastewater treatment plant and substitute the determined fuel through alternative scenarios. In the MBBR scenario, substituting diesel fuel into biomass is a type of biodiesel. Biodiesel has an advantage for the fire tube boiler industry because it can reduce exhaust emissions compared to diesel. Meanwhile, the existing wastewater treatment is substituted for the MBBR unit. The choice of MBBR as a wastewater treatment unit is because it is economical, does not require large land, is simple in development design, and is accessible in operation and maintenance. In the second scenario (SBR), a transition of Diesel fuel to LPG. LPG as a fuel input in the cooking process will result in cleaner emissions, especially on the SO2 parameter, and better because it has a higher heating value than diesel, 47,3 Tj/Gg. Both scenarios are analyzed regarding the magnitude of the impact on the environment using the OpenLCA method. The resulting impact magnitude on the OpenLCA method from each alternative is evaluated to obtain the best scenario. In the Tofu Industry, the best design the resulting impact is smaller than the SBR alternative.

Relationship between the prevalence of Dibothriocephalus latus (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea) and the load of Escherichia coli: New findings in a neglected fish-borne parasitic zoonosis.

The sub-Alpine lakes of Switzerland, Italy and France have long been reported as an endemic area of diphyllobothriosis, a parasitic zoonosis caused by Dibothriocephalus latus. With this study, we explored the hypothesis for a relationship between the prevalence of D.latus in Perca fluviatilis and the Escherichia coli load in lake water. To do this, we identified eleven sampling sites in three areas (north, centre and south) of Lake Iseo (north Italy) to determine E.coli load and the prevalence of D.latus in P.fluviatilis. Prevalence and 95% confidence interval (CI) of D.latus infestation ranged from 0% (95% CI: 0.71-0.0) in Sarnico (southern area) to 20% (95% CI: 33.0-11.2) in Pisogne (northern area). There were significant differences in prevalence between the sites (χ2 =31.12; p-value=.0006) and in E.coli load (Kruskal-Wallis test; p-value=.0005). There was decreasing gradient of E. coli load and prevalence of D.latus infestation from north to south. A significant positive correlation (r=.881; p-value=.003) was found between E.coli load and prevalence of D.latus. Also, linear regression showed a significant relationship between E.coli load and prevalence of infestation (R2 =.775). Our findings offer an explanation for the link between E.coli load in water and D.latus prevalence. The potential factors in this link are the efficiency of the local wastewater treatment plant, the bathymetric profile of the lake and the life cycle of D.latus, which is mainly affected by light and water temperature.

Evaluating the efficiency of municipal wastewater treatment plant in AL-Dhibaei, Iraq

In this study, municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in AL-Dhibaei, Tikrit, Iraq was monitored over a period of one year. The data of raw sewage, which enter WWTP and treated sewage were obtained and investigated. To assess the operational performance of WWTP, the necessary pollutant indicators including biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and dissolved phosphorus (PO4), were examined. The treatment plant reliability factor (RF) was determined in order to indicate an individual pollutant in the effluent sewage according to the permissible concentrations identified by the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment. RF values for BOD, COD, and PO4 were 0.56, 0.82, and 0.4, respectively, which indicated proper performance since RF values below 1. In addition, the removal efficiency for (BOD, COD, and PO4), exceeded the minimum required reduction; 43.75, 18.25, and 60.5, respectively. In addition, the stability of mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) to mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) ratio was determined and its variation was in the range of 0.565-1.225, indicating a proper performance. The sludge volume index (SVI) values were below 50 mg L-1 and its range (5.68 – 27.27 mg L-1), which was associated with efficient treatment interpretations at most of the time.

Application of novel intuitionistic fuzzy BWAHP process for analysing the efficiency of water treatment plant

Application of novel intuitionistic fuzzy BWAHP process for analysing the efficiency of water treatment plant

Correlating bacterial and archaeal community with efficiency of a coking wastewater treatment plant employing anaerobic-anoxic-oxic process in coal industry

Coking wastewater (CWW) contains various complex pollutants, and biological treatment processes are frequently applied in the coking wastewater treatment plants (CWWTPs). The present work is to evaluate the contaminants removal of a full-scale CWWTP with an anaerobic-anoxic-oxic process (A/A/O), to reveal function of bacterial and archaeal community involved in different bioreactors, and to clarify the relationship between the performance and microbial community. Illumina Miseq sequencing of bacteria showed that β-proteobacteria dominated in three bioreactors with relative abundance of 60.2%~81.7%. 75.2% of sequences were assigned to Petrobacter in the bioreactor A1, while Thiobacillus dominated in A2 and O with relative abundance of 31.8% and 38.7%, respectively. Illumina Miseq sequencing of archaea revealed a high diversity of methanogens existed in A1 and A2 activated sludge. Moreover, Halostagnicola was the dominant archaea in A1 and A2 activated sludge with relative abundance of 41.8% and 66.5%, respectively. Function predicted analysis explored that function of bacteria was similar to that of archaea but the relative abundance differed from each other. A putative biodegradation model of CWW treatment in A/A/O process indicated that A1 and A2 activated sludge mainly reduced carbohydrate, protein, TN, phenol and cyanide, as well as methane production. Bacteria in the bioreactor O were responsible for aerobic biotransformation of residual carbohydrates, refractory organics and nitrification. The redundancy analysis (RDA) further revealed that removal of COD, TN, and NO3−-N, phenol and cyanides were highly correlated with some anaerobic bacteria and archaea, whereas the transformation of NH4+-N was positively correlated with some aerobic bacteria.

Application of Anammox-Based Processes in Urban WWTPs: Are We on the Right Track?

The application of partial nitritation and anammox processes (PN/A) to remove nitrogen can improve the energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as well as diminish their operational costs. However, there are still several limitations that are preventing the widespread application of PN/A processes in urban WWTPs such as: (a) the loss of performance stability of the PN/A units operated at the sludge line, when the sludge is thermally pretreated to increase biogas production; (b) the proliferation of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in the mainstream; and (c) the maintenance of a suitable effluent quality in the mainstream. In this work, different operational strategies to overcome these limitations were modelled and analyzed. In WWTPs whose sludge is thermically hydrolyzed, the implementation of an anerobic treatment before the PN/A unit is the best alternative, from an economic point of view, to maintain the stable performance of this unit. In order to apply the PN/A process in the mainstream, the growth of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) should be promoted in the sludge line by supplying extra sludge to the anaerobic digesters. The AOB generated would be applied to the water line to partially oxidize ammonia, and the anammox process would then be carried out. Excess nitrate generated by anammox bacteria and/or NOB can be removed by recycling a fraction of the WWTP effluent to the biological reactor to promote its denitrification.

Effect of Newly Synthesized Salts and Three Common Micropollutants on the Biochemical Activity of Nitrifiers

Often, different types of contaminants in wastewater are suspected of adversely affecting the treatment efficiency of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Therefore, it is essential to study the effects of newly synthesized substances on the activity of activated sludge microorganisms. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of innovative biosurfactants, i.e., sophorolipids quaternary ammonium salts (SQAS), and three common micropollutants (MPs), i.e., diclofenac (DCP), 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2), and 4-nonylenol (4-NP), on the biochemical activity of activated sludge microorganisms. The effect of all tested substances was more significant on nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) than on ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and least on the respiratory activity of heterotrophic organisms (HET). SQAS inhibited nitrification even at the lowest concentration tested (5 mg L−1) and the inhibition degree was in the range of 37% to 78%; at the highest concentration of SQAS studied (160 mg L−1), it was about 45–96%. In most cases, the degree of inhibition increased when the SQAS concentration approached 80–160 mg L−1. MPs influenced the activity of nitrifiers to a lower extent than SQAS. The inhibition degree varied from 25% to 75%, depending on the micropollutant tested and its concentration.

Analysis of modification sedimentation process at communal scale water treatment with electrocoagulation technique

One of the main sources of drinking water commonly used as raw water is river water. This study aims to analyze the efficiency of the Water Treatment Plant using electrocoagulation techniques with modification of sedimentation unit to reduce turbidity concentration in raw water. The drinking water treatment methods without chemicals such as electrocoagulation is an alternative that is being developed as a more efficient alternative treatment. This study was conducted by testing the sample water into a Communal Scale Drinking Water Treatment Plant, with variants of aluminium pairs plates, voltages, and the addition of plate settlers to the sedimentation unit. This study was conducted at flow rates of 0.06 L/sec and 0.08 L/sec. This research results show that the optimal variation with initial turbidity of 100 NTU is 5 pairs of plates with 15 Volt electricity with a percentage of turbidity removal of 93.5% at a flowrate of 0.06 L/sec and 88.2 % at 0.08 L/sec flowrates. Under the optimal conditions, the turbidity removal is increasing in line with the increase of turbidity removal in sedimentation units. This condition shows that modification of the sedimentation process by adding plate settlers increase the turbidity removal.

Analysis of Sewage Treatment Plant at Rai, Sonipat Haryana

Almost 80% of the raw water converted into the wastewater. Wastewater treatment of Municipal waste is the way toward eliminating pollutants from civil wastewater, containing fundamentally family unit sewage including some waste from industries. This research evaluates the performance efficiency of Wastewater Treatment Plant operating on extended aeration process with the average inflow of 7.5 MLD. Fundamentally different wastewater boundaries like pH, TSS, BOD, COD and so forth are inspected at the inlet, outlet and different various destinations of treatment plant. Investigation of quality of water of this plant is a basic as the vast majority of the treated gushing released into Yamuna waterway staying utilized for water system, watering of parks and greens. The consequences of these assessments likewise decide if the emanating released into the water body are under cut-off points given by CPCB. Wastewater tests were gathered at various phases of treatment units and investigated for the significant waste water quality boundaries, for example, BOD, COD, TSS and biodegradability. The normal convergence of boundaries at bay inspecting site pH, BOD, COD, Total Suspended solids, are 7.358, 190.58 mg/l, 588 mg/l and 189.4 mg/l respectively. While the normal convergence of these boundaries, after treatment shows following qualities 7.792, 7.58 mg/l, 32.7 mg/l and 7.8mg/l respectively.

Evaluating the energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants in the Yangtze River Delta: Perspectives on regional discrepancies

With priorities to reach a carbon emission peak and integrated development involving ecological demonstration, a systematic evaluation on the energy efficiency and internal discrepancies of wastewater treatment plants in the Yangtze River Delta region is needed. In this study, a slacks-based measure data envelopment analysis model was applied to quantify the relative energy efficiency of 270 regional wastewater treatment plants. Based on the score of relative energy efficiency, the internal discrepancies of the region were identified through a method combining spatial and sensitivity analysis. Although the wastewater treatment plants had met the pollutant limits of discharge standards, the result of data envelopment analysis showed that 253 wastewater treatment plants were inefficient (with efficiency scores less than 1) due to input excess or output shortfall, indicating substantial potential for improving the energy efficiency. Besides, binary logistic regression demonstrated the significant impact from explanatory factors including designed capacity (104 m3/d), loading rate (%), influent ratio of chemical oxygen demand to total nitrogen, and influent concentration (mg/L) of chemical oxygen demand. Moreover, with regards to regional discrepancies, proportion of efficient wastewater treatment plants for Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui differs significantly. The area surrounding Taihu Lake was recognized as the trough of the Yangtze River Delta region in terms of the relative energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants. This paper would give a reference for optimization of wastewater treatment plants in the study area and the evaluation framework on internal discrepancies might also be useful for other regions worldwide.

Efficiency of Treatment Plant and Drinking Water Quality Assessment from Source to Household, Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia.

Introduction Access to safe drinking water is essential to health, and it is a basic human right. However, drinking water treatment plant efficiency and its water quality are not well investigated in low-income countries including Ethiopia. Methods A laboratory-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 75 water samples. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 22 to generate descriptive statistics, and one-way ANOVA was used to test statistically significant difference. Results Physicochemical qualities of the water samples from tap water sources were found to be pH (6.88 ± 0.05), turbidity (5.15 ± 0.006 NTU), electrical conductivity (170.6 ± 0.1 μS/cm), residual chlorine (0.19 ± 0.003 mg/L), and fluoride (1.17 ± 0.009 mg/L). The removal efficiency of turbidity, total hardness, and nitrate was found to be 94.4%, 52.3%, and 88.7%, respectively. Removal efficiency of the treatment plant for total coliforms up to 91.6% (15 ± 0.26 CFU/100 mL in tap water) and faecal coliforms up to 99% (1.51 ± 0.03 CFU/100 mL in tap water) was recorded. Parameters of pH, temperature, and faecal coliform were statistically significant different at p < 0.05 in tap water source. The overall efficiency of the treatment plant (68.5%) and the water quality index (76) were recorded. Conclusion Based on the results, some of the investigated parameters of water quality (turbidity, residual chlorine, total coliform, and faecal coliform) were found to be not within the permissible limits of WHO guideline values for drinking water quality. The water quality index of the water samples was categorized under good water quality. To adequately treat drinking water and improve the treatment plant, adequate preliminary treatments like screening to reduce the incoming organic loading, proper chlorination of the drinking water system, and frequent monitoring and maintenance of the treatment plant system are required.

Performance Evaluation of Extended Aeration-Based Sewage Treatment Plants at NCT of Delhi, India

Due to urbanization and industrialization huge amount of wastewater is being generated, which is causing water pollution. Nowadays water pollution is a serious problem. The present study has been carried out to evaluate the efficiency of a waste water treatment plants with Extended Aeration Sludge Process (EASP). This has been done by examining the various physiochemical characteristics of wastewater (BOD, COD, TSS &amp; PO4), including a comparison of these characteristics at inlet and outlets of wastewater treatment plants and their variance over time. The examination of the competency of a technology is necessary for further optimization of the treatment units whilst complying with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) requirements. In New Delhi’s Extended Aeration Plants are not working to their peak potential, but have still been able to treat the significant wastewater effectively. The study implies that the effluent released into the Yamuna River would not contribute to the river’s level of pollution.

Evaluating the Efficiency of some Wastewater Treatment Plants in Najaf Governorate

Although there are many wastewater treatment plants, we still suffer from many problems resulting from a lack of experience or technical operating problems. In this research, the service’s efficiency is evaluated according to the design laws required for small factories in the province of Najaf, which works with filtering technology through point filtration, the old project in the Al-Baraka plant, and the second works. Within the biological treatment mbbr + activated sludge, which is a biomass technology where samples were taken from both plants and annual values of the pollutant rate after treatment in the old Al-Baraka plant project COD 64 mg/L and the demand for biochemical oxygen (79) mg/L, the total suspended matter TSS 60 mg / L, PO4 phosphate 2.67 mg / L, NH3 11.46 mg / L, while Turbo 4 BIO results were as follows: 15 mg / L and 28, 83 mg / L, 2.6 mg / L and 6.173 mg / L each who are they. BOD, COD, TSS, PO4, and NH3 respectively, the results were the removal efficiency of the old brake project as follows: BOD 78%, COD 60%, TSS 60, PO4 63% compared to the Bio-Shaft project, the removal is done as follows: BOD8 9%, TSS, COD 60% PO4 60%, NH3 53%. Through the previous results, we conclude that the outputs of both stations are within the standards and permissible limits of the Iraqi specifications, but the Turbo 4Bio plant showed higher efficiency in terms of removal, and the reason may be that the old project needs periodic maintenance.

Retraction: Evaluating the Efficiency of some Wastewater Treatment Plants in Najaf Governorate (IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 1145 012053)

This article (and all articles in the proceedings volume relating to the same conference) has been retracted by IOP Publishing following an extensive investigation in line with the COPE guidelines. This investigation has uncovered evidence of systematic manipulation of the publication process and considerable citation manipulation.IOP Publishing respectfully requests that readers consider all work within this volume potentially unreliable, as the volume has not been through a credible peer review process.IOP Publishing regrets that our usual quality checks did not identify these issues before publication, and have since put additional measures in place to try to prevent these issues from reoccurring. IOP Publishing wishes to credit anonymous whistleblowers and the Problematic Paper Screener [1] for bringing some of the above issues to our attention, prompting us to investigate further.[1] Cabanac G, Labbé C and Magazinov A 2021 arXiv:2107.06751v1 Retraction published: 23 February 2022

A review of the adsorption-biological hybrid processes for the abatement of emerging pollutants: Removal efficiencies, physicochemical analysis, and economic evaluation

The limited efficiency of conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in emerging pollutants (EPs) removal encourages the development of alternative technologies for the adequate treatment of wastewater, due to its adverse effects on human health and ecosystems. The biological, physical or chemical hybrid technologies to treat EPs results interesting since they can enhance the performance of WWTPs. Among them, hybrid adsorption/biological technology could offer different possibilities that are explored in this work (PAC-MBR, PACT/GAC-CAS, BAC configurations). In this way, different variations in the adsorption process have been considered: the form of the adsorbent, the feed to the system, and the type of biological process, either conventional activated sludge (CAS), membrane bioreactor (MBR) or biofilm systems. For each combination, the removal efficiency of micropollutants, classified according to their use into pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PCPs) and other micropollutants (mainly benzotriazoles) was analysed. From reported data, it was observed a beneficial synergistic effect of dipole moment and octanol-water partition coefficient on the removal efficiency of micropollutants by adsorption/biological hybrid technology. Finally, a preliminary economic evaluation of the powdered activated carbon in a conventional activated sludge reactor (PACT), powdered activated carbon-membrane bioreactor (PAC-MBR) and biological activated carbon (BAC) hybrid systems was carried out by analysing the capital expenditure (CAPEX) of plants for capacities up to 75,000 m3d-1. Likewise, estimations of adsorbent concentration for a hypothetical plant with a capacity of 10,000 m3d-1 is presented. Among these hybrid configurations, PAC-MBR achieved the highest micropollutant elimination percentages; however, it presents the highest CAPEX and activated carbon requirements.

Coupling high-performance thin-layer chromatography with a battery of cell-based assays reveals bioactive components in wastewater and landfill leachates

Over the last two decades, effect-directed analysis (EDA) gained importance as a seminal screening tool for tracking biological effects of environmental organic micro-pollutants (MPs). As EDA using high-performance liquid chromatography and bioassays is costly and time consuming, recent implementations of this approach have combined high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) with effect-based methods (EBMs) using cell-based bioassays, enabling the detection of estrogenic, androgenic, genotoxic, photosystem II (PSII)- inhibiting, and dioxin-like sample components on a HPTLC plate. In the present study, the developed methodologies were applied as a HPTLC-based bioassay battery, to investigate toxicant elimination efficiency of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and to characterize the toxic potential of landfill leachates. Activity levels detected in untreated landfill leachates, expressed as reference compound equivalence (EQ) concentration, were up to 16.8 µg β-naphthoflavone-EQ L−1 (indicating the degree of dioxin-like activity), 1.9 µg estradiol-EQ L−1 (estrogenicity) and 8.3 µg diuron-EQ L‑1 (PSII-inhibition), dropping to maximal concentrations of 47 ng β-naphthoflavone-EQ L−1, 0.7 µg estradiol-EQ L−1 and 53.1 ng diuron-EQ L−1 following treatment. Bisphenol A (BPA) is suggested to be the main contributor to estrogenic activity, with concentrations determined by the planar yeast estrogen screen corresponding well to results from chemical analysis. In the investigated WWTP samples, a decrease of estrogenic activity of 6–100% was observed following treatment for most of the active fractions, except of a 20% increase in one fraction (Rf = 0.568). In contrast, androgenicity with concentrations up to 640 ng dihydrotestosterone-EQ L−1 was completely removed by treatment. Interestingly, genotoxic activity increased over the WWTP processes, releasing genotoxic fractions into receiving waters. We propose this combined HPTLC and EBM battery to contribute to an efficient, cheap, fast and robust screening of environmental samples; such an assay panel would allow to gain an estimate of potential biological effects for prioritization prior to substance identification, and its routine application will support an inexpensive identification of the toxicity drivers as a first tier in an EDA strategy.