Biofiltration of wastewater treatment plant effluent: Effective removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products and reduction of toxicity

This study investigates biofiltration for the removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and for the reduction of non-specific toxicity expressed as baseline toxicity equivalent concentration (baseline-TEQ). Two filtering media, sand and granular activated carbon, were tested. The influence of pre-ozonation and empty-bed contact time (EBCT, from 30 to 120 min) was determined. The experiments were performed at a pilot-scale with real WWTP effluent. A previous study showed that biological activity had developed on the filtering media and dissolved organic removal had reached a steady state before sampling commenced. The results show that biological activated carbon (BAC) has a good potential for the removal of DOC (35–60%), PPCPs (>90%) and baseline-TEQ (28–68%) even without pre-ozonation. On the contrary, the sand shows limited improvement of effluent quality. Varying the EBCT does not influence the performance of the BAC filters; however, dissolved oxygen concentration could be a limiting factor. The performances of the BAC filters were stable for over two years suggesting that the main mechanism of organic matter and PPCPs removal is biodegradation. It is concluded that BAC filtration without pre-ozonation could be implemented as a low cost advanced treatment option to improve WWTP effluent chemical quality.

► Removal of PPCPs and reduction of toxicity in treated wastewater by biofiltration.
► Biological activated carbon shows very good performance, sand shows poor performance.
► Pre-ozonation is not necessary when using long contact time in filter.
► Long term steady performance suggests biodegradation mechanism.
► Toxicity assay shows ozonation by-products are still active