Assessing the population equivalent and performance of wastewater treatment through the ratios of pharmaceuticals and personal care products present in a river basin: Application to the River Thames basin, UK

The quality of surface waters in lowland rivers is largely dependent on the efficiency of wastewater treatment. Even in the developed countries, there have been difficulties in evaluating the effectiveness of wastewater management and the proportion of wastewater content (WWC) in the river, as well...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Science of the total environment 2017-01, Vol.575, p.1100-1108
Main Authors: Nakada, Norihide, Hanamoto, Seiya, Jürgens, Monika D., Johnson, Andrew C., Bowes, Michael J., Tanaka, Hiroaki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cosmetics - analysis
Cumulative population
Drug ingredient residue
Drug Residues - analysis
Efficiency of wastewater treatment
England
Environmental Monitoring
Humans
Molecular marker approach
Rivers - chemistry
Sewage
Sewage/wastewater epidemiology
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Waste Water
Wastewater content
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
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Summary:The quality of surface waters in lowland rivers is largely dependent on the efficiency of wastewater treatment. Even in the developed countries, there have been difficulties in evaluating the effectiveness of wastewater management and the proportion of wastewater content (WWC) in the river, as well as in estimating the contributing human population. This study aimed to develop a wastewater quality and quantity assessment based on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the receiving waters. A survey of 53 pharmaceuticals in 324 samples (river water and influent and effluent of sewage (wastewater) treatment plants) was carried out in southern England in the River Thames catchment over four years. Carbamazepine was selected as stable marker and from its concentration WWC in the rivers and cumulative human populations along the catchment were estimated. The estimated population had a strong relationship (R2=0.94) with that reported by the local water company. The concentration ratio of the labile marker caffeine to carbamazepine indicated the efficiency of wastewater treatment in the different treatment systems (i.e. trickling filter or activated sludge) and in the receiving waters. The ratio in some river samples revealed unexpected discharges of untreated or poorly treated wastewater, with a total concentration of the analytes (up to 20μg/L) five times higher than that in treated wastewater. Such information could be valuable to estimate the discharge or occurrence of not only non-targeted chemicals, but also pathogens within the basin. [Display omitted] •Fifty-three pharmaceuticals were monitored in the River Thames basin over 4years.•Wastewater quality and quantity assessment based on the occurrence were studied.•CBZ was selected to assess the population and wastewater content of rivers.•CFF was selected to estimate the effectiveness of wastewater treatment.•CFF/CBZ revealed unexpected discharges of untreated or poorly treated wastewater.
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.180