Monitoring for Microcontaminants in an AWT Facility and Modeling Discharge of Reclaimed Water to Surface Canals for Indirect Potable Use

Advanced wastewater treatment (AWT), which includes filtration, carbon adsorption, phosphorus removal, and nitrogen removal, can effectively remove the majority of pollutants. However, the remaining microconstituents (including potential endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products) in reclaimed water may raise public health and/or aquatic health concerns. Although certain microconstituents may persist following wastewater treatment, current research suggests that advanced treatment technologies can effectively remove them to concentrations below human health risk levels. The project evaluates the removal of microconstituents through AWT facilities, investigate the potential impact of microconstituents to aquatic organisms, and examine the fate and transport of select microconstituents from a hypothetical canal discharge location to a drinking water aquifer with a hydrodynamic and water quality model.

Originally funded as WERF project Reuse-06-19.