Dept. of Engineering, University of Ferrara, Via Saragat 1, I-44122 Ferrara, Italy.
Sci Total Environ. 2013 Jun 1;454-455:411-25. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.03.044. Epub 2013 Apr 9.
Seventy-three commonly administered pharmaceuticals from twelve different therapeutic classes were investigated at a municipal wastewater treatment plant in northern Italy featuring a conventional activated sludge system (full-scale) and a polishing horizontal subsurface flow bed (pilot plant). Removal of these micro-pollutants by the two systems was assessed in order to evaluate their respective contributions. Mean concentrations and standard deviations were calculated and found to differ for the compounds detected, ranging from few ng/L to over 1,165 ng/L in the secondary effluent and from 11 to 533 in the polished effluent. Eighteen compounds were consistently below the detection limit and the remaining 55 compounds were found at a minimum of one sampling point. Average removal efficiencies of both treatment steps and in treatment train as a whole are evaluated and discussed, highlighting the difficulties in predicting the fate of pharmaceuticals in both an activated sludge system and a horizontal subsurface flow bed. Comparison between the observed average removal efficiencies and those reported in the literature was also carried out for the pharmaceuticals of interest, and the discrepancies that emerged are discussed. The investigated constructed wetland did show efficacy in removing some of these compounds, and it contributed to the overall removal efficiency of each therapeutic class. Indeed, evaluation of the specific mass loadings of each class of PhC detected in the raw wastewaters, secondary and polished effluent evidences that the investigated constructed wetland is able to further reduce the load of micropollutants, which could become a necessity, especially where the receiving water body is an effluent-dominant river and mitigation measures of the discharge impact are required to protect and safeguard the aquatic environment.
意大利北部一家城市污水处理厂采用传统活性污泥系统（全规模）和水平潜流床（中试），对 12 种不同治疗类别的 73 种常用药物进行了研究。评估了这两个系统对这些微污染物的去除效果，以评估它们各自的贡献。计算了这些化合物的平均值和标准偏差，发现所检测到的化合物的浓度和标准偏差不同，从二级出水中的少数 ng/L 到超过 1165 ng/L，从抛光出水中的 11 到 533。有 18 种化合物始终低于检测限，其余 55 种化合物在至少一个采样点被发现。评估并讨论了两个处理步骤以及整个处理链的平均去除效率，强调了预测药物在活性污泥系统和水平潜流床中的命运的困难。还对所研究的药物进行了观察到的平均去除效率与文献中报道的效率的比较，并讨论了出现的差异。所研究的人工湿地确实显示出能够去除其中一些化合物的功效，并且有助于每个治疗类别的整体去除效率。事实上，评估在原始废水、二级和抛光出水中检测到的每种 PhC 类别的特定质量负荷表明，所研究的人工湿地能够进一步减少微污染物的负荷，这可能成为一种必要条件，尤其是在受纳水体是排放主导型河流并且需要采取排放影响缓解措施来保护和维护水生环境的情况下。
