Treatment of greywater and presence of microplastics in on-site systems Show others and affiliations
2024 (English) In: Journal of Environmental Management, ISSN 0301-4797, E-ISSN 1095-8630, Vol. 366, article id 121859Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Eight on-site greywater treatment facilities of four different types (A, B, C and D) were investigated. Three were commercially available package plants (A–C) and one was a conventional sand filter (D). The treatment unit of Type A consisted of a geotextile-fitted trickling filter and a sand filter bottom layer, the Type B consisted of packs of fibrous mineral wool filter materials, and the Type C consisted of a fine-meshed plastic filter. The treatment systems were assessed in terms of their removal efficiency for organic matter (e.g. BOD, COD, TOC), nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), surfactants, indicator bacteria (E. coli and enterococci) as well as microplastics. Systems A and D effectively reduced organic matter by >96% BOD, >94% COD and >90% TOC. Their effluent BOD was <29 mg/l. The BOD reduction in the treatment facilities of types B and C was in the range of 70–95%. Removal of anionic surfactants was >90% with effluent concentration <1 mg/l in all facilities. In general, the treatment systems were ineffective in removing E. coli and enterococci; the most efficient was the sand filter (type D), achieving 1.4–3.8 log10 for E. coli and 2.3–3.3 log10 for enterococci. Due to the high E. coli in the effluents, all the on-site systems were classified as Poor (score: 0–44) according to the water quality index (WQI) assessment. In two of the studied facilities, nine microplastic polymers were targeted (i.e. PVC, PS, PET, PE, PC, NG, PMMA, PP and PA6) and analyzed using the thermal extraction desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TED-GCMS) technique. PVC, PS, PET and PA6 were commonly detected in the influent and effluent. The effluent quality from type A and D systems was found to comply with the European Commission’s guideline for the reuse of reclaimed water except for the indicator bacteria concentration.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages Elsevier, 2024. Vol. 366, article id 121859
Keywords [en]
Graywater, Package plants, Surfactants, Nutrients, Polymers, Water quality index
National Category
Water Engineering Water Treatment Microbiology
Research subject Urban Water Engineering
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-108373 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121859 ISI: 001273697500001 PubMedID: 39018843 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85198341500 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-108373 DiVA, id: diva2:1885265
Funder Swedish Research Council Formas, 2019-01903 Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, 208-0182-18
Note Validerad;2024;Nivå 2;2024-07-22 (signyg);
Fulltext license: CC BY
2024-07-222024-07-222025-02-10 Bibliographically approved