Impact of selected wastewater constituents on the removal of sulfonamide antibiotics via ultrafiltration and micellar enhanced ultrafiltration.

To better understand the environmental mobility of sulfonamide antibiotics and develop improved processes for their removal during wastewater treatment, stirred cell ultrafiltration (UF) experiments were conducted using both synthetic and real wastewater effluent. The interactions between selected sulfonamides (sulfaguanidine, sulfathiazole and sulfamerazine), solids and dissolved organic matter were systematically explored. The further impact of micellar enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF), a process in which surfactants are added at micellar concentrations to enhance removal of various trace contaminants from aqueous streams, was then explored by using a cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB).