Scientist
Focus area

Removal of organic micropollutants in wastewater

At present, the main task of municipal wastewater treatment systems is to collect and treat wastewater to prevent the spread of infection and eutrophication. More and more studies show that organic micropollutants, such as pharmaceutical residues, hygiene products, hormones, industrial chemicals, pesticides and other substances, can give rise to undesirable biological effects in aquatic environments.

Several of these substances end up in watercourses, lakes and the sea via water from wastewater treatment plants. Only a few substances are partially degraded at today’s wastewater treatment plants. In order to remove a significant part of these substances, other technical solutions need to be installed than those available at the plants today.

Technical solutions

Technical solutions such as ozonation and dosing of or filtration through activated carbon, for decomposition or adsorption of the micropollutants, have been installed at a few wastewater treatment plants around the world. We need to know more about the technology’s efficiency with regard to the reduction of micropollutants, energy use and resource consumption at our owner companies’ treatment plants, as well as which substances should be prioritized and why.

The new EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive which may be accepted in 2024 includes new demands on treatment from organic micropollutants, called quaternary treatment. The demands apply for large treatment plants and treatment plants with sensitive recipients. A few wastewater treatment plants in Sweden have introduced treatment and the expansion is promoted by investment grants from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to reduce society’s emissions of pharmaceutical residues to the aquatic environment.

Purpose

The purpose of this focus area is to find, describe and develop suitable solutions for treatment from organic micropollutants in wastewater at the owner companies’ current or future wastewater treatment plants.

What does SWR do connected to this focus area?

Work that has been carried out has highlighted the reduction of various organic micropollutants with ozonation, activated carbon and biological processes, sizing criteria and control strategies for the efficient use of ozone and activated carbon, and development of post-treatment steps for ozonation.

Trials on pilot- and lab-scale have been carried out in parallel with knowledge compilations. In 2024, the results will be available through a summary report.

Furthermore, Sweden Water Research continues to monitor the national and international developments in the area.

Objectives of the focus area

By 2025, we should know:​

  • whether a specific wastewater treatment plant should choose ozonation, activated carbon or a combination of these as a treatment process
  • and​ how the controlling of an ozonation plant should look like

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Focus area leader
David Gustavsson
david.gustavsson@vasyd.se
+46 738 530 150