Occurrence and Removal of PPCPs in Urban Wastewater

Abstract

The occurrence and removal of thirty representative pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) was investigated for the period of one year to evaluate current systems’ treatment efficacy and assess reusability for the wastewater. Results obtained show that in the wastewater influents, all but three target PPCPs are routinely detected at average total concentration of 133-139 µg/L with 30-35% of coefficient of variation; acetaminophen, DEET, caffeine, ibuprofen, and naproxen are present at the highest concentrations (> 10 µg/L). The removal efficiency by the wastewater treatment processes varies greatly among different PPCP compounds. The average removal rate was 91 ± 6% at WWTP 1 and 92 ± 4% at WWTP 2. The data indicates a seasonal dependence with higher PPCPs removal rate in warmer weather in WWTPs. The removal of PPCPs in wastewater can be correlated to the organic carbon removal.