title: Suitability of ozone pre-treatment for amoxicillin wastewater.
abstract: This study deals with the ozonation of amoxicillin in real pharmaceutical wastewater and its efficacy as a pre-treatment, prior to biological degradation by a mixed culture of bacteria in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). An ozone utilization of 0.27 g/g-COD (chemical oxygen demand) lowered the pH of the wastewater to 6.6, reduced the specific ultraviolet absorption by 43% and increased the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) concentration by 37%. The BOD:COD ratio became equal to 0.89, making the ozonated wastewater seemingly suitable for biological treatment; however, when the ozonated effluent was fed to the SBR, the reactor performance degraded, an effect which was attributed to ozonation by-products. In conclusion, ozonation might not be a suitable pre-treatment for pharmaceutical wastewater containing amoxicillin, and biotreatment with properly acclimated biomass may be a better option for treatment of such pharmaceutical wastewater.
authors: Centre for Water Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Dr. 2, Singapore 117576 E-mail: ceelop@nus.edu.sg.
authors: O
authors: O
authors: Lefebvre
authors: Centre for Water Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Dr. 2, Singapore 117576 E-mail: ceelop@nus.edu.sg.
authors: X
authors: X
authors: Shi
authors: Centre for Water Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Dr. 2, Singapore 117576 E-mail: ceelop@nus.edu.sg.
authors: J G
authors: JG
authors: Tein
authors: Centre for Water Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Dr. 2, Singapore 117576 E-mail: ceelop@nus.edu.sg.
authors: H Y
authors: HY
authors: Ng
mesh_terms: D000658:Amoxicillin / Q000737:chemistry*; D019149:Bioreactors; D010126:Ozone / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D010126:Ozone; D000658:Amoxicillin