Removal of organic micropollutants from wastewater effluent: Selective adsorption by a fixed-bed granular zeolite filter followed by in-situ ozone-based regeneration

Organic micropollutants (OMPs) that occur in the aquatic environment are an emerging concern. Adsorption by granular zeolites and regenerating exhausted zeolites by gaseous ozone is an innovative and advanced treatment technology for removing OMPs from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. In this study, WWTP effluent spiked with eleven OMPs at 4–5 µg/L was treated by this combined technology, which included five steps in each cycle. The five steps comprised 1) selective adsorption of OMPs from WWTP effluent for five days by a zeolite granules fixed-bed column, 2) pre-backwash of the column, 3) drying of the column, 4) in-situ regeneration of the column with gaseous ozone 5) post-backwash of the column. The removal efficiency of eight OMPs (sotalol, metoprolol, propranolol, trimethoprim, clarithromycin, carbamazepine, methyl-benzotriazole, and benzotriazole) reached between 70 % and 100 % in six cycles. The adsorption of sulfamethoxazole and diclofenac was less favourable. In each cycle, less than 8 % of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was removed from the WWTP effluent. The effect of the natural organic matter (NOM) on the adsorption of OMPs was negligible. Ozone consumption during regeneration was reduced by around 70 % by increasing pre-backwash duration from 30 min to 1 h. Ozonation directly with ozone gas can effectively regenerate the zeolite granules in the column under low ozone consumption.