Fate of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products Through Municipal Wastewater Treatment Processes

The objective of this research was to expand published findings to the removal of 20 PPCPs commonly found in the influent of full-scale treatment facilities operating in the U.S. The study surveyed a target list of PPCP compounds that have been detected in wastewater influent and assessed their removal through conventional secondary treatment facilities. The data was evaluated to determine if the removal of these compounds is influenced by the solids retention time (SRT) which is the master variable in the operation of activated sludge secondary treatment. PPCP removal through subsequent tertiary media filtration and disinfection and newer hybrid treatment processes such as membrane bioreactors were also evaluated. Published by WERF. 116 pages. Soft cover and online and PDF. (2007)

Originally funded as WERF project 03-CTS-22UR.