Removals of pharmaceutical compounds from hospital wastewater in membrane bioreactor operated under short hydraulic retention time

Pilot-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) was operated at a short hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 3 h for the treatment of hospital wastewater. The removals of eleven pharmaceutical compounds in MBR operated at different mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) level were investigated during which nitrification degree was differed. The results experiments revealed the importance of immediate adsorption onto the colloidal particles in supernatant of MBR sludge and subsequently removed by membrane filtration for the recalcitrant pharmaceutical compounds. Nevertheless, the removals through biodegradation during short HRT were also found significant for some compounds. DGGE profile revealed the development of pharmaceutical degrading microorganisms in MBR.