The fate and transformation of pharmaceutical and personal care products in wastewater treatment plants

The detection of pharmaceuticals in the water sources of many countries have brought about rising concerns about the inefficiencies of conventional wastewater treatment processes in ensuring their complete removals. As there are uncertainties revolving around the impacts of pharmaceuticals on humans and the environment, they have been termed as pollutants. Advanced treatment methods such as Membrane Bioreactors (MBR) have been introduced as a promising way to eliminate these pollutants. Therefore, the purpose of this study serves to investigate the potential of using MBR in the removals of selected pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, diclofenac, ketoprofen, ibuprofen, naproxen, salicylic acid and caffeine). Apart from the potential removal efficiencies, discussions will be made with regard to the contribution by each of the zone in the MBR, namely the anoxic tank, aerobic tank and the membrane. A lab scale MBR was first set up. After ensuring a stable operation of the system with the artificial feed, a solution of the studied pharmaceuticals was added. Thereafter, the system was set to run under a constant Hydraulic Retention Time of 15 hours. Common parameters (pH, conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids, salinity, temperature) were monitored. Samplings of COD, NH_4^+ and PO_4^(3-) were also conducted. Samples of pharmaceuticals across the different zones of the MBR tank were taken and quantification of the pharmaceuticals were made employing Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) and Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LCMS-MS). Findings showed high average removals (90-100%) for ibuprofen, naproxen, salicylic acid and caffeine by the MBR. Moderate average removal of 60% was discovered for diclofenac while carbamazepine and ketoprofen exhibited poor average removals of 8% and 34% respectively. The report consists of 5 sections. Section 1 (Introduction) will provide the background for the study and explains why the focus of the experiment will be as such. Section 2 (Literature Review) will bring in some past research evidence which identifies possible research gaps and compares results obtained by other researchers. Section 3 (Materials and Methodology) will discuss the equipment and chemicals used in the experiment and the experimental procedures undertaken. Section 4 (Results and Discussions) presents on the findings from this study together with analyses made in comparison with past literature. Lastly, Section 5 (Conclusion and Future Recommendations) summarises the report and concludes with recommendations for future studies.Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental Engineering