AWWA WQTC65972

This study investigated the effects of current and emerging reuse water treatment technologies, including advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), on the removal of indigenous estrogenic activity and spiked endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) into reclaimed waters by use of the receptor-binding yeast estrogen screen (YES). AOPs have been considered an effective technique for the removal of many organic pollutants in water. This study was conducted in both field scale and bench scale experiments. This YES bioassay detects compounds that bind with the human estrogen receptor (hER) integrated into yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisae). The YES assay allows for greater sensitivity to quantitatively detect a variety of known and unknown estrogens via a receptor mechanism. The YES assay is therefore a broad and sensitive method compared to conventional chemical analyses, allowing for assessment of the effectiveness of each technology to remove the EDCs to trace (non-bio-active) levels. In field tests, the native effluent estradiol equivalent concentration (EEQ) was 430 ng/L and was reduced by 60% (to 170 ng/L) during microfiltration. Further reduction of estrogenicity by more than 90% (<20 ng/L) was achieved following ozonation and O₃/H₂O₂ treatment. Bench scale experiments with spiked EDCs were also performed to compare the results obtained in field scale experiments using an expanded suite of treatments. The results from the bench scale experiments show that total estrogenicity decreased by 90% for LP UV with 5 ppm H₂O₂ after UV exposure of 150 mJ/cm². However, there appeared to be no additional removal with increasing UV fluence. From the results in the field and bench scale experiments to date, the AOPs are a promising tool for the control of EDCs in reclaimed water. Includes 5 references, tables, figures.