title: Pharmaceuticals and pesticides in reclaimed water: Efficiency assessment of a microfiltration-reverse osmosis (MF-RO) pilot plant.
abstract: Water reuse is becoming a common practice in several areas in the world, particularly in those impacted by water scarcity driven by climate change and/or by rising human demand. Since conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are not able to efficiently remove many organic contaminants and pathogens, more advanced water treatment processes should be applied to WWTP effluents for water reclamation purposes. In this work, a pilot plant based on microfiltration (MF) followed by reverse osmosis (RO) filtration was applied to the effluents of an urban WWTP. Both the WWTP and the pilot plant were investigated with regards to the removal of a group of relevant contaminants widely spread in the environment: 28 pharmaceuticals and 20 pesticides. The combined treatment by the MF-RO system was able to quantitatively remove the target micropollutants present in the WWTP effluents to values either in the low ng/L range or below limits of quantification. Monitoring of water quality of reclaimed water and water reclamation sources is equally necessary to design the most adequate treatment procedures aimed to water reuse for different needs.
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, Spain. Electronic address: srodriguez@icra.cat.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Mozaz
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ricart
authors.affiliation: Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Köck-Schulmeyer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Faculty of Sciences, Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guasch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Faculty of Sciences, Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: Chloe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bonnineau
authors.affiliation: Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Faculty of Sciences, Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Proia
authors.affiliation: Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Miren Lopez
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: de Alda
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, Spain; Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Faculty of Sciences, Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sergi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sabater
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, Spain; Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Damià
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barceló
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods; D009995:Osmosis; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D059027:Recycling; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: MF–RO pilot plant; Pesticides; Pharmaceuticals; Reclaimed water; Water reuse