Removal of pharmaceuticals, toxicity and natural fluorescence through the ozonation of biologically-treated hospital wastewater, with further polishing via a suspended biofilm

摘要

In the present study, a pilot-scale ozonation system was introduced as post treatment to reduce the pharmaceuticals and toxicity in the effluent of a pilot-scale Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor ( MBBR) treating hospital wastewater. The ozonated effluent was polished further by suspended biofilm carriers to remove biodegradable organic matter and toxicity generated from ozonation by-products. A laboratory ozonation system was used to mimic the experiments, which were carried out at the pilot plant so that the removal of pharmaceuticals in the pilot and laboratory experiments could be compared. Delivered ozone dose achieved 90% removal of pharmaceutical was obtained and it was normalised to dissolved organic carbon (DOC). These normalised results show that trimethoprim was eliminated by ozone easier than other pharmaceuticals.