210
A. Z. Yaser and N. N. Safie
Commission 1986) and sludge not meeting those criteria must be disposed of via
alternative means such as incineration or landfilling (European Commission 1986).
Meanwhile, Cd is toxic to humans, has an unknown biological function, and is one
of the more mobile metals in soil. It is thus of particular concern in terms of crop
uptake potential as it can pose health risks to humans and animals at levels well
below phytotoxic concentration (McLaughlin et al. 2000).
Although the report of the presence of micropollutants in campus sewage is
still rare, however, domestic sewage or municipal wastewater are commonly being
reported to contain micropollutants in very low concentrations (µg.L
−1 –ng.L
−1 )
which essentially distinguish them from traditional contaminants (organic matter,
nitrogen and phosphorus) (Luo et al. 2014; Margot et al. 2015). They originate
mainly from mass-produced consumables used for medical care (pharmaceuticals),
hygienic or cosmetic reasons (personal care products, PCPs), plant/crop protection
(pesticides), and enhancement of the physical properties and performance of products
(industrial chemicals) (Luo et al. 2014).
At present, most wastewater treatment plant is ineffective to remove micropollutants that will flow to the natural water bodies which have the potential in causing
adverse effects to the aquatic life as some of these compounds are toxic at very low
concentrations and should therefore be properly removed (Luo et al. 2014).
Other than that, organic contaminants such as phenol are detected in campus sewage of COEA Campus (Deshmukh et al. 2017). This compound
has the tendency to get converted to micropollutants containing phenol moieties. Range of transformation processes may occur during high concentration of phenols during wastewater treatment (Beel et al. 2013). Moreover, phenol derivatives are not easily biodegradable due to its high toxicity (Ma et al. 2018) https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-andmicrobiology/microorganism.
The range of parameters that describe the characteristics of campus sewage may
vary since campus sewage characteristics may change diurnally and seasonally. The
variation diurnally can be observed during peak and off season. As in Curtin University Sarawak, the diurnal variation is more established compared to domestic diurnal
patterns that occur during peak hour between 12 noon and 2 pm as it is the lunch
period for students and staff. Meanwhile, seasonal variation in the water consumption and wastewater generation can also be observed, with less volume of water
consumed during off-peak periods such as the semester break. Therefore, both diurnal and seasonal variation for water consumption is strongly dependent on population
and ongoing activities (Table 2).
3 Overview of Conventional Sewage Treatments
In ancient times, sewage can be treated naturally by self-purification via streams and
river bodies but the amount of growing population has increased which exceeded the
available capacity of the streams and rivers (Rajasulochana and Preethy 2016). Not
A. Z. Yaser and N. N. Safie
Commission 1986) and sludge not meeting those criteria must be disposed of via
alternative means such as incineration or landfilling (European Commission 1986).
Meanwhile, Cd is toxic to humans, has an unknown biological function, and is one
of the more mobile metals in soil. It is thus of particular concern in terms of crop
uptake potential as it can pose health risks to humans and animals at levels well
below phytotoxic concentration (McLaughlin et al. 2000).
Although the report of the presence of micropollutants in campus sewage is
still rare, however, domestic sewage or municipal wastewater are commonly being
reported to contain micropollutants in very low concentrations (µg.L
−1 –ng.L
−1 )
which essentially distinguish them from traditional contaminants (organic matter,
nitrogen and phosphorus) (Luo et al. 2014; Margot et al. 2015). They originate
mainly from mass-produced consumables used for medical care (pharmaceuticals),
hygienic or cosmetic reasons (personal care products, PCPs), plant/crop protection
(pesticides), and enhancement of the physical properties and performance of products
(industrial chemicals) (Luo et al. 2014).
At present, most wastewater treatment plant is ineffective to remove micropollutants that will flow to the natural water bodies which have the potential in causing
adverse effects to the aquatic life as some of these compounds are toxic at very low
concentrations and should therefore be properly removed (Luo et al. 2014).
Other than that, organic contaminants such as phenol are detected in campus sewage of COEA Campus (Deshmukh et al. 2017). This compound
has the tendency to get converted to micropollutants containing phenol moieties. Range of transformation processes may occur during high concentration of phenols during wastewater treatment (Beel et al. 2013). Moreover, phenol derivatives are not easily biodegradable due to its high toxicity (Ma et al. 2018) https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-andmicrobiology/microorganism.
The range of parameters that describe the characteristics of campus sewage may
vary since campus sewage characteristics may change diurnally and seasonally. The
variation diurnally can be observed during peak and off season. As in Curtin University Sarawak, the diurnal variation is more established compared to domestic diurnal
patterns that occur during peak hour between 12 noon and 2 pm as it is the lunch
period for students and staff. Meanwhile, seasonal variation in the water consumption and wastewater generation can also be observed, with less volume of water
consumed during off-peak periods such as the semester break. Therefore, both diurnal and seasonal variation for water consumption is strongly dependent on population
and ongoing activities (Table 2).
3 Overview of Conventional Sewage Treatments
In ancient times, sewage can be treated naturally by self-purification via streams and
river bodies but the amount of growing population has increased which exceeded the
available capacity of the streams and rivers (Rajasulochana and Preethy 2016). Not