Elimination of pharmaceutical compounds from municipal wastewater by photocatalysis, microfiltration and nanofiltration

Abstract

The aim of the study was to develop an innovative method for the removal of selected pharmaceuticals from biologically treated municipal wastewater. The photocatalytic oxidation in the presence of TiO2 was carried out in a reactor irradiated with a UV lamp (power 150 W) and two-stage membrane filtration was also applied. In the first stage the catalyst particles were separated using a microfiltration membrane. In the second stage the wastewater was polished in a semi-industrial installation equipped with a flow-through tubular membrane module with a filter surface area of 240 cm2 . The system combining photocatalysis and membrane filtration allowed for complete elimination of the pharmaceuticals.