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Removal of pharmaceutical active compounds in multi-module biochar filter (MmBF) for post-septic tank treatment
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, Uppsala 752 36, Sweden.
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Stockholm 100 31, Sweden.
Division of Water Environment Technology, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg 412 96, Sweden.
KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Sustainable development, Environmental science and Engineering, Water and Environmental Engineering. Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, Uppsala 752 36, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0946-3226
2025 (English)In: Water Science and Technology, ISSN 0273-1223, E-ISSN 1996-9732, Vol. 92, no 3, p. 394-408Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in wastewater pose significant environmental risks due to their persistence and potential to disrupt aquatic ecosystems. Onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) often fail to adequately remove PhACs. This study investigated the efficiency of a multi-module biochar filter (MmBF) system as secondary treatment in OWTS for removing PhACs. Two parallel MmBF systems, each comprising six sequential modules filled with biochar, were evaluated for their removal of 25 detected PhACs across multiple pharmaceutical classes. The MmBFs were operated with municipal wastewater as influent for over one year, after which wastewater samples were collected and analysed from the influent and effluent of each module. The MmBFs showed consistent reduction in the aggregated PhACs concentrations by >99% over several sampling occasions, with only six PhACs having less than 95% removal. The first aerobic module M1 contributed to more than 92% of the total removal. The subsequent aerobic modules (M2-M3) provided additional reduction, resulting in over 98% of PhACs removal in the aerobic modules. In contrast, the anoxic modules (M4-M5) had a lower overall contribution, but the removal of specific compounds was observed, suggesting potential anaerobic degradation. This study demonstrates the potential of biochar-based systems as a sustainable option for OWTSs.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
IWA Publishing , 2025. Vol. 92, no 3, p. 394-408
Keywords [en]
biochar, micropollutants, multi-module biochar filter, onsite wastewater treatment systems, pharmaceutically active compounds
National Category
Water Treatment Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-369172DOI: 10.2166/wst.2025.111ISI: 001551310800001PubMedID: 40810589Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105013533105OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-369172DiVA, id: diva2:1994202
Note

QC 20250902

Available from: 2025-09-02 Created: 2025-09-02 Last updated: 2025-09-02Bibliographically approved

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Dalahmeh, Sahar S.

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