(cest2017_00886) Effect of electrochemical processes applied to membrane bioreactors on the removal of antibiotics from wastewater

摘要

In the recent decades, the use of antibiotics is of greatconcern due to their continuous input and persistence inaquatic ecosystems even at low concentrations. The lack ofappropriate treatment systems in conventional wastewatertreatment plant, the unsuitable disposal of unused orexpired antibiotics and their incomplete metabolization inhumans severely affect the quality of surface andgroundwater. The present work aims to study thecombination of electrochemical processes with membranebioreactors (electro MBR/eMBR) for the removal ofantibiotics from synthetic municipal wastewater.Amoxicillin (AMX) was chosen and spiked, at awastewater, asrepresentative of highly consumed antibiotic that isfrequently detected in the aquatic environment. In order toreach the set objectives, an intermittent electric field of 0.5and 1.15 mA/cm2 was applied between two cylindricalperforated aluminum anode and stainless steel cathode,immersed around a membrane module in a laboratory scaleeMBR. For comparison purposes, the reactor was alsooperated as a conventional membrane bioreactor. Theresults illustrate that the application of electrochemicalprocesses to membrane bioreactors was able to increase theantibiotic removal with respect to the conventional MBR.