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Characterization and Removal of Microplastics in Different Stages of Wastewater Treatment Plants
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This review examines the types, shapes, and sizes of microplastics found in domestic and industrial wastewaters and evaluates the removal efficiency of different treatment processes across wastewater treatment plant stages, noting that no existing process achieves 100% removal.
Domestic and industrial wastewaters contain microplastics (MPs) in different polymer types, shapes, and sizes. Although wastewater containing MP is treated with pretreatment and primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment processes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), WWTPs cannot provide 100% MP removal efficiency. As a result, with the discharge of WWTP effluent into the aquatic environment, millions/billions of MPs from WWTPs are released into the aquatic environment in a day. Therefore, knowing the MP removal efficiency from wastewater with treatment processes in WWTPs, which is the last obstacle in the release of MPs in wastewater to the environment, allows more controlled management of MPs in wastewater. In this chapter, the sources of MPs in wastewaters and the MP concentration and characteristics at the influent and effluent of WWTPs are reviewed. Then, MP removal efficiency of WWTPs and MP release potential from WWTPs are reviewed. Also, MP removal efficiency from wastewater with preliminary treatment, primary treatment, secondary treatment, and tertiary treatment units in WWTPs is discussed.
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