Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater (상하수도학회지)

The Korean Society of Water and Wastewater (대한상하수도학회)
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Investigation on the occurrence and fate of micropollutants in domestic wastewater treatment plants based on full-scale monitoring and simple statistical analysis

현장 모니터링과 기초통계분석에 기반한 국내 하수처리장 미량오염물질 발생 및 거동 조사

  • Chae, Sung Ho (Center for Water Cycle Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)) ;
  • Lim, Seung Ji (Center for Water Cycle Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)) ;
  • Lee, Jiho (Center for Water Cycle Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)) ;
  • Gashaw, Seid Mingizem (Center for Water Cycle Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)) ;
  • Lee, Woongbae (School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST)) ;
  • Choi, Sangki (School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST)) ;
  • Lee, Yunho (School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST)) ;
  • Lee, Woorim (Water Quality Institute, Busan Water Authority) ;
  • Son, Heejong (Water Quality Institute, Busan Water Authority) ;
  • Hong, Seok-Won (Center for Water Cycle Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST))
  • 채성호 (한국과학기술연구원 물자원순환연구센터) ;
  • 임승지 (한국과학기술연구원 물자원순환연구센터) ;
  • 이지호 (한국과학기술연구원 물자원순환연구센터) ;
  • ;
  • 이웅배 (광주과학기술원 지구환경공학부) ;
  • 최상기 (광주과학기술원 지구환경공학부) ;
  • 이윤호 (광주과학기술원 지구환경공학부) ;
  • 이우림 (부산광역시 상수도사업본부 수질연구소) ;
  • 손희종 (부산광역시 상수도사업본부 수질연구소) ;
  • 홍석원 (한국과학기술연구원 물자원순환연구센터)
  • Received : 2022.02.04
  • Accepted : 2022.03.29
  • Published : 2022.04.15
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Abstract

The frequent detection and occurrence of micropollutants (MPs) in aquatic ecosystems has raised public health concerns worldwide. In this study, the behavior of 50 MPs was investigated in three different domestic wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Furthermore, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to assess the geographical and seasonal variation of MPs in the WWTPs. The results showed that the concentrations of 43 MPs ranged from less than 0.1 to 237.6 ㎍ L-1, while other seven MPs including 17-ethynylestradiol, 17-estradiol, sulfathiazole, sulfamethazine, clofibric acid, simvastatin, and lovastatin were not detected in all WWTPs. Among the detected MPs, the pharmaceuticals such as metformin, acetaminophen, naproxen, and caffeine were prominent with maximum concentrations of 133.4, 237.6, 71.5, and 107.7 ㎍ L-1, respectively. Most perfluorinated compounds and nitrosamines were found at trace levels of 1.2 to 55.3 ng L-1, while the concentration of corrosion inhibitors, preservatives (parabens), and endocrine disruptors ranged from less than 0.1 to 4310.8 ng L-1. Regardless of the type of biological treatment process such as MLE, A2O, and MBR, the majority of pharmaceuticals (except lincomycin, diclofenac, iopromide, and carbamazepine), parabens (except Methyl paraben), and endocrine disruptors were removed by more than 80%. However, the removal efficiencies of certain MPs such as atrazine, DEET, perfluorinated compounds (except PFHxA), nitrosamines, and corrosion inhibitors were relatively low or their concentration even increased after treatment. The results of statistical analysis reveal that there is no significant geographical difference in the removal efficacy of MPs, but there are temporal seasonal variations in all WWTPs.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 결과물은 환경부의 재원으로 한국환경산업기술원의 상하수도 혁신 기술개발사업의 지원을 받아 연구되었습니다 (2019002710010).

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