We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Assessing the removal of microplastics, nanoplastics, and tire derived contaminants using chemically enhanced primary treatment
Summary
Researchers evaluated chemically-enhanced primary treatment using alternative coagulants—ferric sulfate and aluminum chlorohydrate—to remove microfibers, nanoplastics, tire crumb rubber, and polyethylene microspheres from both surface water and wastewater, finding that coagulant choice, pH, and environmental factors like detergent and UV exposure significantly affect removal efficiency, with tire crumb rubber removal reaching up to 93% under optimal conditions.
Drinking water production facilities and wastewater treatment plants act as the final barrier to 16 prevent plastic contaminant release into the drinking water supply system and into natural waters, 17 respectively.In this study, the performance of chemically-enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) to 18 remove four types of micro-and nanoplastic contaminants (polyester microfibers, polyethylene 19 microspheres, tire crumb rubber, and polystyrene nanoplastics) from surface water and wastewater 20 influent was assessed under different treatment conditions and varying environmental factors.21 Alternative coagulants, including ferric sulfate (FS) and aluminum chlorohydrate (ACH) improved 22 treatment under conditions that were challenging for alum (pH > 8).Namely, in wastewater at pH 23 7, FS and ACH effectively removed tire crumb rubber (83 4% and 93 3%, respectively) 24 compared to alum (27 6%).Similarly, FS was an effective coagulant for treating surface water 25 at pH 8.5 with high removal across all micro-sized plastic contaminants: 90 3% tire crumb 26 rubber, 89 2% microfiber, and 87 1% microplastic.No significant difference in polyester 27 microfiber or polyethylene microsphere removal was observed between coagulants at pH 8.5.Jar 28 tests also showed that environmental factors such as the presence of laundry detergent and UV-29 irradiation impacted the extent of plastic contaminant removal.Nanoplastic removal was observed 30 to be correlated with turbidity removal in both wastewater and surface water jar tests, with the 31 highest nanoplastic removal observed using alum to treat wastewater (51 3%; pH 8.5) and ACH 32 to treat surface water (83 1%; pH 7).Results from this work offer new insights into the impact 33 of treatment conditions, environmental factors, and plastic type and morphology on the 34