BUFFALO, NY, JAN 9, 2020 -- A study of seven wastewater treatment plants in the Eastern United States reveals a mixed record when it comes to removing medicines such as antibiotics and antidepressants.
The research points to two treatment methods — granular activated carbon and ozonation — as being particularly promising. Each technique reduced the concentration of a number of pharmaceuticals, including certain antidepressants and antibiotics, in water by more than 95%, the scientists’ analysis found.
Activated sludge, a common treatment process that uses microorganisms to break down organic contaminants, serves an important purpose in wastewater treatment but was much less effective at destroying persistent drugs such as antidepressants and antibiotics.
“The take-home message here is that we could actually remove most of the pharmaceuticals we studied. That’s the good news. If you really want clean water, there are multiple ways to do it,” says Diana Aga, PhD, Henry M. Woodburn Professor of Chemistry in the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences.
“However, for plants that rely on activated sludge only, more advanced treatment like granular activated carbon and/or ozonation may be needed,” Aga adds. “Some cities are already doing this, but it can be expensive.”
The findings are important because any drugs discharged from treatment plants can enter the environment, where they may contribute to phenomena such as antibiotic resistance, or be consumed by wildlife.
"Our research adds to a growing body of work showing that advanced treatment methods, including ozonation and activated carbon, can be very effective at removing persistent pharmaceuticals from wastewater," says Anne McElroy, PhD, Professor and Associate Dean for Research in the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
The study — funded by New York Sea Grant — was published in November in the journal Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology.
Aga and McElroy led the project, with UB chemistry PhD student Luisa Angeles as first author. The paper was a partnership between researchers at UB, Stony Brook University, the Hampton Roads Sanitation District and Hazen and Sawyer, a national water engineering firm that designs advanced wastewater treatment systems, including some of the systems studied.
The research analyzed a variety of technologies in use at seven wastewater treatment plants in the Eastern U.S., including six full-scale plants and one large pilot-scale plant. According to the paper, “more precise locations are not provided in order to protect the identity” of the facilities.
