Anaerobic digestibility of estrogens in wastewater sludge: effect of ultrasonic pretreatment.

Background: Estrogenic compounds have been detected in the secondary effluents and in the biosolids from conventional wastewater treatment plants, which are not designed for their removal. Furthermore, existing limited studies on anaerobic digestibility of estrogens report conflicting results. The objective of the present work was to determine the fate and anaerobic digestibility of estrogenic compounds in various types of sludge including primary sludge (PS), waste activated sludge (WAS), and anaerobically digested sludge (seed).

Degradation of estrone in water and wastewater by various advanced oxidation processes.

A comprehensive study was conducted to determine the relative efficacy of various advanced oxidation processes such as O3, H2O2, UV, and combinations of UV/O3, UV/H2O2 for the removal of estrone (E1) from pure water and secondary effluent. In addition to the parent compound (E1) removal, performance of the advanced oxidation processes was characterized using removal of total organic carbon (TOC), and estrogenicity of the effluent. Although E1 removal was high for all the AOPs, intermediates formed were more difficult to degrade leading to slow TOC removal.