Pilot-Scale Treatment of Neutral Pharmaceuticals in Municipal Wastewater Using Reverse Osmosis and Ozonation

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) reaching surface waters through municipal wastewater are a concern, as existing treatment processes poorly remove them. While significant lab-scale evaluations have been performed on treatment options, full-scale tests are lacking. Presented is an experimental study from a full-scale research facility that is imbedded in a functioning municipal wastewater plant. Reverse osmosis and ozonation were tested as part of an active treatment train using secondary treated effluent from the adjoining facility. Reverse osmosis removed 92.6%, 99.0%, 99.6%, 97.8%, 99.0%, 99.6%, 99.9%, and 99.2% of metformin, cotinine, trimethoprim, caffeine, venlafaxine, carbamazepine, erythromycin, and fluoxetine, respectively. By ozone, sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine, erythromycin and o-desmethylvenlafaxine were removed by more than 99.9%. Trimethoprim and venlafaxine were removed by more than 95%, with the remaining compounds removed by between 16% and 85%. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of reverse osmosis and ozonation for full-scale treatment.