The purpose of this article is to review the current physical, chemical and hybrid technologies practices employed in the removal of pharmaceuticals from liquid effluents originating from various resources including municipal waste, hospitals discharge with a focus on pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Pharmaceutical pollutants are mostly persistent organic compounds that are not easily removed by conventional wastewater treatment processes. The literature reviewed shows that advanced oxidation processes are able to degrade these persistent pharmaceuticals. However, the oxidation may also introduce toxic oxidation intermediates/by-products if these processes are not properly monitored and operated. Physical treatments, like carbon adsorption and membrane filtration, can provide a barrier that prevents both parent compounds and toxic intermediates passing into treated wastewater. However, these processes are phase changing technologies in which contaminants are transferred from one phase to another hence, the retentate water and absorbent require further treatment, and properly managed disposal. The combination of different processes can be an ideal treatment scheme, for the retention and degradation of both parent and transformation compounds. Through hybrid technologies, the advantages of the methods are combined, leading to a maximization of contaminants removal. The review highlights the importance of installing combined wastewater treatment processes to reduce the amounts of pharmaceutical residues before the wastewater enters the environment. The use of advanced oxidation process, either as a pre-treatment or as a post-treatment combined with biological, adsorption, or filtration process is recommended as a promising option. Nevertheless, the optimum treatment methods for the pharmaceuticals-containing wastewater depends on the quality and quantity of wastewater, as well as on the pharmaceutical compounds residues and their hazardous effects.

Filtration (mathematics)

Human decontamination

10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132079

Cite

Citations (72)

Coupling the treatment of low strength anaerobic effluent with fermented biowaste for nutrient removal via nitrite

Journal of Environmental Management (2014)

Evina Katsou Simos Malamis Nicola Frison Francesco Fatone

Sequencing batch reactor

10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.09.008

Cite

Citations (19)

Inhibition of free nitrous acid and free ammonia on polyphosphate accumulating organisms: Evidence of insufficient phosphorus removal through nitritation-denitritation

Journal of Environmental Management (2021)

Dimitris Andreadakis Constantinos Noutsopoulos Gerasimos Fragkiskatos Daniel Mamais Theodora Misirli

Nitrous acid

Nitrous oxide

Sequencing batch reactor

Polyphosphate

10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113390

Cite

Citations (11)

Examination of zinc uptake in a combined system using sludge, minerals and ultrafiltration membranes

Journal of Hazardous Materials (2010)

Evina Katsou Simos Malamis Katherine J. Haralambous

Vermiculite

Ultrafiltration (renal)

Membrane Fouling

Bentonite

10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.05.101

Cite

Citations (29)

Biological nutrients removal from the supernatant originating from the anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste

Critical Reviews in Biotechnology (2013)

Simos Malamis Evina Katsou Silvia Di Fabio David Bolzonella Francesco Fatone

This study critically evaluates the biological processes and techniques applied to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from the anaerobic supernatant produced from the treatment of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and from its co-digestion with other biodegradable organic waste (BOW) streams. The wide application of anaerobic digestion for the treatment of several organic waste streams results in the production of high quantities of anaerobic effluents. Such effluents are characterized by high nutrient content, because organic and particulate nitrogen and phosphorus are hydrolyzed in the anaerobic digestion process. Consequently, adequate post-treatment is required in order to comply with the existing land application and discharge legislation in the European Union countries. This may include physicochemical and biological processes, with the latter being more advantageous due to their lower cost. Nitrogen removal is accomplished through the conventional nitrification/denitrification, nitritation/denitritation and the complete autotrophic nitrogen removal process; the latter is accomplished by nitritation coupled with the anoxic ammonium oxidation process. As anaerobic digestion effluents are characterized by low COD/TKN ratio, conventional denitrification/nitrification is not an attractive option; short-cut nitrogen removal processes are more promising. Both suspended and attached growth processes have been employed to treat the anaerobic supernatant. Specifically, the sequencing batch reactor, the membrane bioreactor, the conventional activated sludge and the moving bed biofilm reactor processes have been investigated. Physicochemical phosphorus removal via struvite precipitation has been extensively examined. Enhanced biological phosphorus removal from the anaerobic supernatant can take place through the sequencing anaerobic/aerobic process. More recently, denitrifying phosphorus removal via nitrite or nitrate has been explored. The removal of phosphorus from the anaerobic supernatant of OFMSW is an interesting research topic that has not yet been explored. At the moment, standardization in the design of facilities that treat anaerobic supernatant produced from the treatment of OFMSW is still under development. To move toward this direction, it is first necessary to assess the performance of alternative treatment options. It study concentrates existing data regarding the characteristics of the anaerobic supernatant produced from the treatment of OFMSW and from their co-digestion with other BOW. This provides data documenting the effect of the anaerobic digestion operating conditions on the supernatant quality and critically evaluates alternative options for the post-treatment of the liquid fraction produced from the anaerobic digestion process.

Sequencing batch reactor

Anammox

10.3109/07388551.2013.791246

Cite

Citations (53)

Assessing the removal of heavy metals in industrial wastewater by means of chemical exergy

Desalination and Water Treatment (2017)

Stergios Vakalis Κωνσταντίνος Μουστάκας Dimitios Malamis A. Sotiropoulos Simos Malamis

Industrial wastewater treatment

10.5004/dwt.2017.20588

Cite

Citations (6)