Zhang Kefeng, Yuan Lihao, Deletic Ana, Prodanovic Veljko
Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), High St, Kensington, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), High St, Kensington, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Water Res. 2025 Apr 1;273:122953. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122953. Epub 2024 Dec 10.
Vegetated biofiltration system (VBS) is an effective green technology for urban stormwater and greywater treatment. However, VBS is yet to be optimised for effective treatment of wastewater, particularly if it contains trace organic chemicals (TrOCs). The effect of plant species has not been addressed under TrOC wastewater loading. This study tested and evaluated the effectiveness of VBS over a one-year period in removing six TrOCs commonly found in wastewater, namely Caffeine (CAF), Paracetamol (PCM), Sulfamethoxazole (SMX), N diethyl‑meta-toluamide (DEET), Bisphenol A (BPA) and Ibuprofen (IBU). Eleven VBS configurations were tested in a year-long laboratory column study to explore the role of seven different plant species (with differing characteristic), varied soil media depths, and soil characteristics, on the fate of TrOCs in the systems. The effect of different operational conditions (e.g., dosing volume and regime) on removal efficiency was investigated. The results indicated VBS was able to maintain a high removal rate (>95 %) of CAF, BPA, and IBU throughout the experiment, followed by PCM (>79 %), SMX (50 %-80 %), and DEET (<12 %). Plant species significantly impacted the removal of SMX and DEET (p<0.05), with C. indica as the best performer. Reducing hydraulic loading rate and decreasing daily dosing volume and frequency contributed positively to the PCM, SMX, and DEET removal rates. Noticeable accumulations of SMX, DEET, and BPA (8.2, 43.1, and 54.5 ng·g-1, respectively) were detected in the filter media, particularly within the saturated zone. Higher chemical concentrations (i.e., CAF and DEET) were found in plant root tissue than in plant shoot tissue. This study offers valuable insights into VBS's design and operational aspects for removing TrOCs.
植被生物过滤系统（VBS）是一种用于城市雨水和中水（灰水）处理的有效绿色技术。然而，VBS尚未针对废水的有效处理进行优化，特别是如果废水中含有痕量有机化学品（TrOCs）。在TrOC废水负荷条件下，植物种类的影响尚未得到研究。本研究在一年的时间里测试并评估了VBS去除废水中常见的六种TrOCs的有效性，这六种物质分别是咖啡因（CAF）、对乙酰氨基酚（PCM）、磺胺甲恶唑（SMX）、N,N-二乙基间甲苯酰胺（DEET）、双酚A（BPA）和布洛芬（IBU）。在一项为期一年的实验室柱实验中，测试了11种VBS配置，以探究7种不同植物种类（具有不同特性）、不同土壤介质深度和土壤特性对系统中TrOCs归宿的影响。研究了不同运行条件（如投加量和投加方式）对去除效率的影响。结果表明，在整个实验过程中，VBS能够对CAF、BPA和IBU保持较高的去除率（>95%），其次是PCM（>79%）、SMX（50%-80%）和DEET（<12%）。植物种类对SMX和DEET的去除有显著影响（p<0.05），其中印度菖蒲（C. indica）表现最佳。降低水力负荷率以及减少每日投加量和投加频率对PCM、SMX和DEET的去除率有积极作用。在过滤介质中，尤其是在饱和区，检测到SMX、DEET和BPA有明显的累积（分别为8.2、43.1和54.5 ng·g-1）。在植物根系组织中发现的化学物质浓度高于地上组织（如CAF和DEET）。本研究为VBS去除TrOCs的设计和运行方面提供了有价值的见解。
