Analysis and removal of emerging contaminants in wastewater and drinking water

The occurrence of trace organic contaminants in wastewaters, their behavior during wastewater treatment and production of drinking water are key issues in the re-use of water resources. Elimination of different classes of emerging contaminants, such as surfactant degradates, pharmaceuticals and polar pesticides in wastewater-treatment plants (WWTPs) was found to be rather low, so sewage effluents are one of the main sources of these compounds and their treatment-resistant metabolites. This article reviews the state-of-the-art in the analysis of several groups of emerging contaminants (acidic pharmaceuticals, antibacterial agents, acidic pesticides and surfactant metabolites) in wastewaters. It also discusses the elimination of emerging contaminants in WWTPs applying conventional activated sludge treatment (AST) and advanced treatment processes, such as membrane bioreactors (MBRs) and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), as well as during production of drinking water. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.