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Migration and transformation modes of microplastics in reclaimed wastewater treatment plant and sludge treatment center with thermal hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion
Summary
Researchers tracked how microplastics move and change throughout a wastewater treatment plant and a sludge treatment center that uses thermal hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion. They found that while the treatment plant removed about 98% of microplastics from the water, most particles ended up concentrated in the sludge. The study suggests that sludge disposal and reuse practices need to account for the microplastics that accumulate during wastewater treatment.
Microplastics in wastewater have been investigated globally, but less research on the migration and transformation of microplastics throughout wastewater and sludge treatment. This study investigated the fate of microplastics in a reclaimed wastewater treatment plant and a centralized sludge treatment center with thermal hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion. The results exhibited that the effluent microplastics of this reclaimed wastewater treatment plant were 0.75 ± 0.26 items/L. Approximately 98 % of microplastics were adsorbed and precipitated into sludge. After thermal hydrolysis, anaerobic digestion and plate and frame dewatering, the removal rate of microplastics was 41 %. Thermal hydrolysis was the most effective method for removing microplastics. Polypropylene, polyamide and polyethylene were widely detected in wastewater and sludge. 30 million microplastics were released into the downstream river and 51.80 billion microplastics entered soil through sludge cake daily. Therefore, substantial microplastics still entered the natural environment despite the high microplastics removal rate of reclaimed wastewater and sludge treatment.