Microplastics and solutions to remove microplastics in wastewater from wastewater treatment plants in the Saigon–Dong Nai river basin, Vietnam

The article studies the occurrence of microplastics in the inlet and outlet wastewater streams at wastewater treatment plants in the Saigon-Dong Nai river basin, Vietnam and provide a suitable removal solution.The sampling method is suitable for the actual conditions of Vietnam combined with the application of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to analyze the microplastic composition in the sample.The results show that microplastics exist in many different shapes and colors.Density of microplastics in the inlet stream is from 10.188-15.074gL -1 .Density of microplastics in the outlet stream is from 0.684-2.107gL -1 .In which, filaments with an average length of 524.68 μm and an average radius of 100.4 μm; slender form with an average length of 229.49μm and an average width of 101.3-120.6 μm; granules with an average radius of 113.81μm.The removal efficiency of microplastics in the wastewater stream at the surveyed wastewater treatment plants ranges from 85.4% to 93.7% through the following main processes: pre-settlement, flotation, moving bed biofilm reactor, sedimentation, filtration.Solutions for the removal of microplastics from wastewater treatment plants in the Saigon -Dong Nai river basin were proposed and discussed.