Microplastics in Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Plants: Occurrence and Removal of Microfibres
Microplastics (MPs), and specifically microfibres (MPFs), are ubiquitous in water bodies, including wastewater and drinking water. In this work, a thorough literature review on the occurrence and removal of MPs, and specifically MPFs in WWTPs and DWTPs, has been carried out. When the water is treate...
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/21/10109 |
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| author | Daniel Sol Amanda Laca Adriana Laca Mario Díaz |
| author_facet | Daniel Sol Amanda Laca Adriana Laca Mario Díaz |
| author_sort | Daniel Sol |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Microplastics (MPs), and specifically microfibres (MPFs), are ubiquitous in water bodies, including wastewater and drinking water. In this work, a thorough literature review on the occurrence and removal of MPs, and specifically MPFs in WWTPs and DWTPs, has been carried out. When the water is treated, an average microfiber removal efficiency over 70% is achieved in WWTPs and DWTPs. These high percentages are still inefficient for avoiding the presence of a large number of microfibres in treated wastewater and also in tap water. RSF, DAF, oxidation ditch and CAS processes have been described as the most efficient treatments for eliminating MPFs from wastewater treatment. It is remarkable the wide range of the data reported on this topic; for example, treated wastewater contains between not detected and 347 MPFs/L, whereas tap water contains between not detected and 168 MPFs/L. Microfibres constitute more than half of the MPs found in treated wastewater and sewage sludge, whereas in DWTP effluents the percentage of MPFs is around 32%. Nevertheless, the relative amount of MPFs reported in tap water is notably higher (71%). Microfibres from WWTPs are discharged to the environment, being a source of MP pollution. Additionally, MPs released by DWTPs directly enter the drinking water lines, which constitute a direct route for MP human consumption, so that it has been estimated that an adult may ingest an average value of 7500 MPFs per year only via tap water. Thus, this review provides an update on the performance of WWTPs and DWTPs in removing MPs from water, which is an issue of great interest. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:06:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9079b66bb4c0496bb9300dc9e871c600 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:06:41Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-9079b66bb4c0496bb9300dc9e871c6002023-11-22T20:27:57ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-10-0111211010910.3390/app112110109Microplastics in Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Plants: Occurrence and Removal of MicrofibresDaniel Sol0Amanda Laca1Adriana Laca2Mario Díaz3Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/Julián Clavería s/n, 33006 Oviedo, SpainDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/Julián Clavería s/n, 33006 Oviedo, SpainDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/Julián Clavería s/n, 33006 Oviedo, SpainDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/Julián Clavería s/n, 33006 Oviedo, SpainMicroplastics (MPs), and specifically microfibres (MPFs), are ubiquitous in water bodies, including wastewater and drinking water. In this work, a thorough literature review on the occurrence and removal of MPs, and specifically MPFs in WWTPs and DWTPs, has been carried out. When the water is treated, an average microfiber removal efficiency over 70% is achieved in WWTPs and DWTPs. These high percentages are still inefficient for avoiding the presence of a large number of microfibres in treated wastewater and also in tap water. RSF, DAF, oxidation ditch and CAS processes have been described as the most efficient treatments for eliminating MPFs from wastewater treatment. It is remarkable the wide range of the data reported on this topic; for example, treated wastewater contains between not detected and 347 MPFs/L, whereas tap water contains between not detected and 168 MPFs/L. Microfibres constitute more than half of the MPs found in treated wastewater and sewage sludge, whereas in DWTP effluents the percentage of MPFs is around 32%. Nevertheless, the relative amount of MPFs reported in tap water is notably higher (71%). Microfibres from WWTPs are discharged to the environment, being a source of MP pollution. Additionally, MPs released by DWTPs directly enter the drinking water lines, which constitute a direct route for MP human consumption, so that it has been estimated that an adult may ingest an average value of 7500 MPFs per year only via tap water. Thus, this review provides an update on the performance of WWTPs and DWTPs in removing MPs from water, which is an issue of great interest.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/21/10109microfibrestechnologiesremovalWWTPsDWTPstap water |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Sol Amanda Laca Adriana Laca Mario Díaz Microplastics in Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Plants: Occurrence and Removal of Microfibres Applied Sciences microfibres technologies removal WWTPs DWTPs tap water |
| title | Microplastics in Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Plants: Occurrence and Removal of Microfibres |
| title_full | Microplastics in Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Plants: Occurrence and Removal of Microfibres |
| title_fullStr | Microplastics in Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Plants: Occurrence and Removal of Microfibres |
| title_full_unstemmed | Microplastics in Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Plants: Occurrence and Removal of Microfibres |
| title_short | Microplastics in Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Plants: Occurrence and Removal of Microfibres |
| title_sort | microplastics in wastewater and drinking water treatment plants occurrence and removal of microfibres |
| topic | microfibres technologies removal WWTPs DWTPs tap water |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/21/10109 |
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