Detection of Selected Pharmaceutical Contaminants and Removal Efficiency of Emerging Contaminants by Application of Membrane Filtration Technology

摘要

Removal of emerging contaminants is considered to be one of the most important processes within advanced Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) system. Pharmaceutical contaminants in drinking water could potentially lead to human's increasing risks of heart attacks, organ damage, mental health and even cancer. This paper investigates the emerging contaminant removal efficiencies of technologies employed by local WWTPs. After determining the presence of selected emerging contaminants (17β-estradiol, Acetaminophen, Carbamazepine, Diclofenac, Erythromycin, Estrone, Bezafibrate, Fluoxetine, Gemfibrozil, Ibuprofen, Lincomycin, Metoprolol, Naproxen, Ofloxacin, Sulfamethoxazole and Triclosan) in the waterbodies within the watershed of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana (NWI). Three of the contaminants above are chosen for lab experiments by considering their effects on human's health and environment. A membrane filtration experiment is conducted in Purdue Water Institute (PWI) as preliminary studies on the removal of selected emerging contaminants. Meanwhile, application of Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) and simulation of coagulation/flocculation are designed as combined experiment with membrane filtration for evaluation of feasibility of using these techniques.