Treatment of Micropollutants in Water and Wastewater

Abstract

Micropollutants – compounds which are found in the mgL?1 or ng L?1 concentration range in water, soil and wastewater are considered to be potential threats to environmental ecosystems. Over the last few years there has been a growing concern of the scientific community due the increasing concentration of micropollutants originating from a great variety of sources including pharma- ceutical, chemical engineering and personal care product industries in rivers, lakes, soil and groundwater. Once released into the environment, micropollutants are subjected to different processes such as distribution between different phases, biological and abiotic degradation. These processes contribute to their elimination and affect their bioavailability. The role of the aforementioned processes in micropollutants’ fate depends on the physico-chemical properties of these compounds (polarity, water solubility, vapor pressure) and the type of the environment (natural or mechanical) where the micropollutants are present (groundwater, surface water, sediment, wastewater treatment systems, drinking-water facilities). As