Papers

20 results
|
Article Tier 2

A comparative study on the stability and coagulation removal of aged vs. nonaged nanoplastics in surface water

Researchers used palladium-doped nanoplastics as tracers to compare how environmentally aged and pristine nanoplastics behave during water treatment coagulation. They found that ozone-aged nanoplastics developed more oxygen-containing surface groups, making them harder to remove through conventional coagulation, while solar-aged particles showed mainly physical changes. The study suggests that current drinking water treatment processes may be less effective at removing aged nanoplastics than fresh ones.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal of nanoparticles (both inorganic nanoparticles and nanoplastics) in drinking water treatment – coagulation/flocculation/sedimentation, and sand/granular activated carbon filtration

Researchers reviewed the removal of inorganic nanoparticles and nanoplastics during conventional drinking water treatment, finding that coagulation/flocculation/sedimentation and sand/granular activated carbon filtration can substantially reduce nanoparticle concentrations but with variable efficiency depending on particle type.

2022 Environmental Science Water Research & Technology 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal efficiency of micro- and nanoplastics (180 nm–125 μm) during drinking water treatment

Researchers tested how effectively standard drinking water treatment processes remove micro- and nanoplastics ranging from 180 nanometers to 125 micrometers. They found that coagulation and sedimentation alone removed less than 2% of plastic particles, while granular filtration was far more effective, achieving 87% to nearly 100% removal depending on particle size. The study also found that biofilm formation on microplastics significantly improved their removal during coagulation treatment.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 268 citations
Article Tier 2

Conventional and biological treatment for the removal of microplastics from drinking water

Researchers examined microplastic removal by a full-scale drinking water treatment plant, finding that conventional coagulation-flocculation-filtration processes and biological filters with granular activated carbon effectively reduced microplastic concentrations in treated water.

2021 Chemosphere 101 citations
Article Tier 2

Treatment processes for microplastics and nanoplastics in waters: State-of-the-art review

This review summarized established and emerging treatment processes for removing microplastics and nanoplastics from drinking water and wastewater, evaluating coagulation, membrane filtration, advanced oxidation, and biological treatment in terms of removal efficiency and operational feasibility.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 102 citations
Review Tier 2

Removal of microplastics and nanoplastics in water treatment processes: A systematic literature review

Researchers systematically reviewed 103 studies across 26 water treatment plants in 12 countries to assess how well various technologies remove microplastics and nanoplastics from drinking water, finding that while coagulation, filtration, and advanced treatments help, significant gaps remain. The review identifies that no single process achieves complete removal, leaving microplastics as a persistent contaminant in treated water supplies.

2024 Journal of Water Process Engineering 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate of microplastics in the drinking water production

Researchers tracked the fate of microplastics through drinking water treatment processes, finding that conventional treatment steps like coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration removed the majority of microplastics but did not eliminate them entirely.

2022 Water Research 157 citations
Article Tier 2

What have we known so far about microplastics in drinking water treatment? A timely review

This review summarizes research on microplastic occurrence and removal in drinking water treatment, covering both laboratory and full-scale studies through August 2021. Researchers found that conventional treatment processes like coagulation-flocculation, membrane filtration, and sand filtration are generally effective at reducing microplastics in water, though results vary widely depending on conditions. The study identifies key factors influencing removal efficiency and highlights the need for further research on nanoplastics in drinking water.

2021 Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering 68 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate and removal efficiency of polystyrene nanoplastics in a pilot drinking water treatment plant

Researchers investigated how effectively a pilot-scale drinking water treatment plant removes polystyrene nanoplastics. The study found that sand and activated carbon filtration alone achieved 88.1% removal, but adding a coagulation step dramatically improved removal efficiency to 99.4%, with most nanoplastics captured during the sand filtration process.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 87 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic occurrence after conventional and nanofiltration processes at drinking water treatment plants: Preliminary results

Researchers detected microplastics in source river water and finished drinking water at three treatment plants in the Paris region, finding that standard treatment steps including coagulation-flocculation and sand filtration reduced but did not eliminate MPs. Nanofiltration achieved higher removal rates, suggesting advanced filtration is needed for near-complete MP removal from drinking water.

2022 Frontiers in Water 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Novel Materials for the Removal of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Drinking Water Treatment: A Comprehensive Review

This review systematically assessed novel materials—including metal-organic frameworks, bio-based adsorbents, and advanced membranes—for removing microplastics and nanoplastics from drinking water. The authors found that conventional treatment removes as little as 48.4% of particles and that emerging nanomaterial-based approaches can achieve higher efficiencies, though scalability and cost remain barriers.

2025 Water Environment Research
Review Tier 2

Review of Advanced Water Treatment for Removal of Nanoplastic Pollution

This review evaluates drinking water treatment technologies for removing nanoplastics, finding that combined coagulation, flocculation, and filtration achieves up to 99.9% removal efficiency. As nanoplastics are detected in drinking water globally and cannot be degraded in the environment or human body, identifying effective removal processes is directly relevant to protecting public health.

2023 CIVED 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic removal across ten drinking water treatment facilities and distribution systems

Researchers characterized microplastic removal across ten drinking water treatment facilities and found that conventional municipal treatment achieved greater than 97.5% removal, primarily through granular media filtration or ultrafiltration. Untreated source waters contained between approximately 1,200 and 7,200 microplastic particles per liter, with polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyamide being the most common types. The findings provide valuable data on microplastic exposure through drinking water and the effectiveness of existing treatment processes.

2025 npj Clean Water 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and removal of microplastics by advanced and conventional drinking water treatment facilities

Researchers assessed microplastic occurrence and removal efficiency at drinking water treatment plants using both conventional and advanced treatment processes. Advanced treatment steps such as ultrafiltration and activated carbon significantly improved microplastic removal compared to conventional coagulation and filtration alone.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Micro- and nanoplastics removal from water and solid matrices: Technologies, challenges, and future perspectives

Researchers reviewed a decade of research on micro- and nanoplastic removal technologies across water and solid matrices, finding that conventional water treatment achieves over 80% microplastic removal but transfers most particles to sludge rather than degrading them, while advanced oxidation processes show strong degradation potential under controlled but not yet real-world conditions.

2026 Environmental Research
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and removal of microplastics by advanced and conventional drinking water treatment facilities

Researchers evaluated the performance of both advanced and conventional drinking water treatment processes for removing microplastics, finding that advanced methods such as ultrafiltration substantially outperform standard coagulation and filtration. Most conventional treatment plants leave a meaningful fraction of microplastics in finished drinking water.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Performance of rapid sand filter – single media to remove microplastics

This study evaluated the performance of a rapid sand filter as a single-media drinking water treatment step for microplastic removal, finding moderate removal efficiency that varied with particle size and filter operation parameters.

2021 Water Science & Technology Water Supply 75 citations
Article Tier 2

[Research Progress on Removal of Microplastics by Filtration in Drinking Water Treatment].

This review examines how media filtration at drinking water treatment plants removes microplastics, evaluating filter types, operating conditions, and removal efficiencies reported in the literature. It identifies filtration as a scalable, cost-effective barrier for MP removal and discusses optimisation strategies to improve performance.

2025 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Removal of nanoplastics in water treatment processes: A review

This review examines technologies for removing nanoplastics from water, noting that conventional treatment processes effective for larger plastics often fail to capture these tiny particles. Researchers evaluated emerging methods including microbial degradation, membrane filtration, and photocatalysis, finding that combined approaches offer the best removal rates. The study highlights that more research is needed to develop practical, large-scale solutions for nanoplastic contamination in drinking water and wastewater.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 146 citations
Article Tier 2

Efficient removal of microplastics through a combined treatment process: Pre-filtration and adsorption

A combined treatment process integrating coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration achieved efficient removal of microplastics from drinking water. The study supports the feasibility of adapting existing water treatment infrastructure to address microplastic contamination.

2025 Journal of Environmental Management 1 citations