Removal of antimicrobials using advanced wastewater treatment.

Removal of numerous classes of pharmaceuticals from the municipal and industrial wastewater, using conventional wastewater treatment, is incomplete and several studies suggested that improvement of this situation would require the application of advanced treatment techniques. This is particularly important for the treatment of industrial effluents, released from pharmaceutical industries, which can contain rather high concentrations of antimicrobials. The aim of this work was to evaluate membrane bioreactors (MBRs), nanofiltration, reverse osmosis and ozonation, as well as their combinations, for the removal of antimicrobials from a synthetic wastewater which simulated highly contaminated industrial effluents.