title: Ethinylestradiol removal in a conventional and a simultaneous nitrification-denitrification membrane bioreactor.
abstract: The removal of a synthetic estrogen 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) was investigated in submerged membrane bioreactors (MBRs) with simultaneous nitrification-denitrification (SND) and conventional nitrification. The influent EE2 concentration was 500 ng/L as EE2. Using a yeast estrogen screen test, the conventional-MBR (C-MBR) and SND MBR (SND-MBR) removed 57 and 58% of the estrogenic activity (EA) respectively; there was no significant difference in their removal efficiencies. Biodegradation was the dominant removal mechanism for both reactors with K(BIO) coefficients of 1.5 ± 0.6 and 1.6 ± 0.4 day(-1) for the C-MBR and the SND-MBR respectively. Sorption to solid particles removed approximately 1% of influent EA in each reactor; the particle partitioning coefficient, K(D), was calculated to be 0.21 ± 0.07 L/(g MLSS) for the C-MBR and 0.27 ± 0.1 L/(g MLSS) for the SND-MBR. These findings suggest that conditions favoring SND in MBRs have no significant impact on EA reduction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paetkau
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cicek
mesh_terms: D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol / Q000737:chemistry*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D058465:Nitrification; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol