Rejection of pharmaceuticals in nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membrane drinking water treatment.
This paper investigates the removal of a broad range of pharmaceuticals during nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) applied in a full-scale drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) using groundwater. Pharmaceutical residues detected in groundwater used as feed water in all five sampling campaigns were analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs such as ketoprofen, diclofenac, acetaminophen and propyphenazone, beta-blockers sotalol and metoprolol, an antiepileptic drug carbamazepine, the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole, a lipid regulator gemfibrozil and a diuretic hydrochlorothiazide. The highest concentrations in groundwater were recorded for hydrochlorothiazide (58.6-2548ngL(-1)), ketoprofen (<MQL-314ngL(-1)), diclofenac (60.2-219.4ngL(-1)), propyphenazone (51.5-295.8ngL(-1)) and carbamazepine (8.7-166.5ngL(-1)). Excellent overall performance of both NF and RO was noted, with high rejection percentages for almost all of the pharmaceuticals investigated (>85%). Deteriorations in retentions on NF and RO membranes were observed for acetaminophen (44.8-73 %), gemfibrozil (50-70 %) and mefenamic acid (30-50%). Furthermore, since several pharmaceutical residues were detected in the brine stream of NF and RO processes at concentrations of several hundreds nanogram per litre, its disposal to a near-by river can represent a possible risk implication of this type of treatment.
Radjenović
J
J
Department of Environmental Chemistry, IIQAB-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain. jrdqam@cid.csic.es
Petrović
M
M
Ventura
F
F
Barceló
D
D
D004350:Drug Residues / Q000737:chemistry; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D049329:Nanostructures; D009995:Osmosis; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water