10 Review on Trends in the Removal of Pharmaceuticals …
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10.5.5 Membrane Technology
Membrane-based pollutant serration is one of the most trusted methods and currently
is being used globally. High separation efficiencies for almost all types of pollutants
make them the near perfect solution to solve water-related issues. However, due
to high cost of membranes, extensive energy requirement for maintaining pressure
and fouling is very common issues for membrane-based water treatment processes.
Researchers are still trying to find the satisfactory solutions to these issues. Along
with other types of pollutants, this type of separation techniques has also been used
for PPCPs removal as well. Nanofiltration (NF) and ultrafiltration (UF) types of
membrane separation techniques have been used to compare their separation efficiencies of 27 different PPCPs. They reported that NF was more effective than UF
for the removal of almost all of the 27 PPCPs. In another study, 31 different PPCPs
containing well water and drinking water were purified using NF and reverse osmosis
(RO)-based water treatment plants (Radjenovi´ c et al. 2008). The study indicated that
the separation efficiency of the process was more than 85% for all types of PPCPs. A
municipal sewage treatment plant in Germany (Röhricht et al. 2010) used polyethersulfone membranes to separate PPCPs from the municipal sewage and found that the
removal rate of PPCPs like carbamazepine, dichlorobenzene, and sulfonamide was
around 65%. With late beginning in our area, a lot of water environment workers
have also achieved some encouraging results after hard efforts, such as NF removal
of carbamazepine, and antibiotics. In recent times, NF membrane-based process has
been tried for separation of different types of PPCPs till date (Cheng et al. 2008).
10.5.6 Biodegradation
Effluents generated in the wastewater treatment plants are extensively been used
worldwide for various purposes. It is estimated that around 7–8% of the total generated treated municipal wastewater was reused in the USA to satisfy the water demand
for irrigation (Miller et al. 2001). Though it is a wise practice, people have to face the
adverse consequences caused due to effluent-derived organic contaminants. Emerging organic pollutants like PPCPs are present in the effluents (Loraine and Pettigrove
2006). PPCPs even at trace levels could be accumulated in the soils resulting in environmental problems like contamination to groundwater (Ternes et al. 2007; Kinney
et al. 2006; Xu et al. 2009).
Apart from the processes described in the above section, biodegradation of PPCPs
is one of the best techniques to remove these types of contaminates from effluents.
Many researchers have removed PPCP by biodegradation in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs), wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), membrane bioreactors (MBRs),
constructed wetlands, and sand columns. Table 10.5 has summarized all the processes
with their removal efficiency. From Table 10.5, it is evident that for same individual
243
10.5.5 Membrane Technology
Membrane-based pollutant serration is one of the most trusted methods and currently
is being used globally. High separation efficiencies for almost all types of pollutants
make them the near perfect solution to solve water-related issues. However, due
to high cost of membranes, extensive energy requirement for maintaining pressure
and fouling is very common issues for membrane-based water treatment processes.
Researchers are still trying to find the satisfactory solutions to these issues. Along
with other types of pollutants, this type of separation techniques has also been used
for PPCPs removal as well. Nanofiltration (NF) and ultrafiltration (UF) types of
membrane separation techniques have been used to compare their separation efficiencies of 27 different PPCPs. They reported that NF was more effective than UF
for the removal of almost all of the 27 PPCPs. In another study, 31 different PPCPs
containing well water and drinking water were purified using NF and reverse osmosis
(RO)-based water treatment plants (Radjenovi´ c et al. 2008). The study indicated that
the separation efficiency of the process was more than 85% for all types of PPCPs. A
municipal sewage treatment plant in Germany (Röhricht et al. 2010) used polyethersulfone membranes to separate PPCPs from the municipal sewage and found that the
removal rate of PPCPs like carbamazepine, dichlorobenzene, and sulfonamide was
around 65%. With late beginning in our area, a lot of water environment workers
have also achieved some encouraging results after hard efforts, such as NF removal
of carbamazepine, and antibiotics. In recent times, NF membrane-based process has
been tried for separation of different types of PPCPs till date (Cheng et al. 2008).
10.5.6 Biodegradation
Effluents generated in the wastewater treatment plants are extensively been used
worldwide for various purposes. It is estimated that around 7–8% of the total generated treated municipal wastewater was reused in the USA to satisfy the water demand
for irrigation (Miller et al. 2001). Though it is a wise practice, people have to face the
adverse consequences caused due to effluent-derived organic contaminants. Emerging organic pollutants like PPCPs are present in the effluents (Loraine and Pettigrove
2006). PPCPs even at trace levels could be accumulated in the soils resulting in environmental problems like contamination to groundwater (Ternes et al. 2007; Kinney
et al. 2006; Xu et al. 2009).
Apart from the processes described in the above section, biodegradation of PPCPs
is one of the best techniques to remove these types of contaminates from effluents.
Many researchers have removed PPCP by biodegradation in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs), wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), membrane bioreactors (MBRs),
constructed wetlands, and sand columns. Table 10.5 has summarized all the processes
with their removal efficiency. From Table 10.5, it is evident that for same individual