Silent Spring Institute , 320 Nevada Street, Suite 302, Newton, Massachusetts 02460 United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2017 Jul 5;51(13):7304-7317. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b04778. Epub 2017 Jun 15.
Onsite wastewater treatment systems, such as septic systems, serve 20% of U.S. households and are common in areas not served by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) globally. They can be sources of nutrients and pathogen pollution and have been linked to health effects in communities where they contaminate drinking water. However, few studies have evaluated their ability to remove organic wastewater compounds (OWCs) such as pharmaceuticals, hormones, and detergents. We synthesized results from 20 studies of 45 OWCs in conventional drainfield-based and alternative onsite wastewater treatment systems to characterize concentrations and removal. For comparison, we synthesized 31 studies of these same OWCs in activated sludge WWTPs. OWC concentrations and removal in drainfields varied widely and depended on wastewater sources and compound-specific removal processes, primarily sorption and biotransformation. Compared to drainfields, alternative systems had similar median and higher maximum concentrations, reflecting a wider range of system designs and redox conditions. OWC concentrations and removal in drainfields were generally similar to those in conventional WWTPs. Persistent OWCs in groundwater and surface water can indicate the overall extent of septic system impact, while the presence of well-removed OWCs, such as caffeine and acetaminophen, may indicate discharges of poorly treated wastewater from failing or outdated septic systems.
现场污水处理系统，如化粪池系统，为美国 20%的家庭提供服务，在全球范围内，这些系统在未配备污水处理厂（WWTP）的地区很常见。它们可能是营养物质和病原体污染的来源，并与污染饮用水的社区的健康影响有关。然而，很少有研究评估它们去除有机废水化合物（OWCs）的能力，如药物、激素和洗涤剂。我们综合了 20 项研究的结果，这些研究涉及 45 种传统排水场和替代现场污水处理系统中的 OWCs，以描述浓度和去除情况。作为比较，我们综合了 31 项关于这些相同 OWCs 在活性污泥 WWTP 中的研究。排水场中的 OWCs 浓度和去除率差异很大，取决于废水来源和化合物特异性去除过程，主要是吸附和生物转化。与排水场相比，替代系统具有相似的中位数和更高的最大浓度，这反映了更广泛的系统设计和氧化还原条件。排水场中的 OWCs 浓度和去除率通常与传统 WWTP 中的相似。地下水和地表水的持久性 OWCs 可以表明化粪池系统影响的总体程度，而去除良好的 OWCs（如咖啡因和对乙酰氨基酚）的存在可能表明存在处理不佳的废水从失效或过时的化粪池系统排放。
