School of Urban Construction, Nanjing Tech University, Puzhu Road 30, Nanjing, 211816, People's Republic of China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Feb;28(8):9327-9337. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-11411-w. Epub 2020 Nov 3.
Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered to be major contributors of microplastics to the aquatic environment. Detailed research in China, which is relevant to the local situation, remains in the initial stage. Herein, the microplastic abundance, morphology, and removal efficiency of two WWTPs (C and P) equipped with tertiary treatment processes in different districts of Nanjing, an important city in the Yangtze River Basin, were investigated. The influence of technology, operational parameters, daily capacity, and sewage source and its proportion were discussed. Observations by optical microscope and FT-IR analysis and systematic calculation revealed that the microplastics have four shapes, including fragments, granules, film, and fibers, with various sizes and proportions, which were dependent on wastewater source. The total removal rates of 97.67% and 98.46% for WWTP C and WWTP P, respectively, indicated their highly efficient reduction of microplastics. Treatment technology had a considerable influence on the removal rate, especially the secondary and tertiary processes. However, a large number of microplastics from WWTPs were still released into the environmental waters due to the huge daily capacity. Sewage source determined the concentration, morphology feature, and chemical composition of microplastics to a certain extent. Compared with industrial wastewater, domestic wastewater possibly contained smaller microplastics of polyethylene and polypropylene with lower abundance. Furthermore, additional attention was provided on the flocculation process, drainage system, and treatment efficiency of microplastics with different shapes. This work is expected to provide some technical supports to guide the operation and management of WWTPs.
城市污水处理厂(WWTPs)被认为是向水生环境中排放微塑料的主要贡献者。在中国,与当地情况相关的详细研究仍处于初始阶段。本研究调查了长江流域重要城市南京两个配备三级处理工艺的 WWTP(C 和 P)中的微塑料丰度、形态和去除效率。讨论了技术、运行参数、日处理能力以及污水来源及其比例的影响。通过光学显微镜观察、FT-IR 分析和系统计算发现,微塑料有碎片、颗粒、薄膜和纤维四种形态,大小和比例各不相同,这取决于废水来源。WWTP C 和 WWTP P 的总去除率分别为 97.67%和 98.46%,表明它们对微塑料具有高效的去除能力。处理技术对去除率有很大的影响,特别是二级和三级处理。然而,由于日处理能力巨大,大量微塑料仍从 WWTP 排放到环境水中。污水来源在一定程度上决定了微塑料的浓度、形态特征和化学组成。与工业废水相比,生活污水中可能含有较少的聚乙烯和聚丙烯微塑料,且丰度较低。此外,本研究还关注了不同形态的微塑料的絮凝过程、排水系统和处理效率。这项工作有望为指导 WWTP 的运行和管理提供一些技术支持。