Quantification of some ARV's removal efficiency from wastewater using a moving bed biofilm reactor

To date, in South Africa alone, there is an estimated 4.5 million people receiving ARV therapy. This places South Africa as the country with the largest ART programme in the world. As a result, there are an increasing number of reports on the occurrence of ARVs in South African waters. Achieving efficient and bio-friendly methods for the removal of these pollutants is considered as a concern for environmental researchers. This study aims at studying the efficiency of a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) system for removing ARV's from wastewater. A continuous -flow laboratory scale system was designed, built, installed, and operated under different organic loading rates (OLR), hydraulic retention times (HRT), and filling rates in order to optimize its performance. The systems were monitored over time for the elimination of conventional wastewater parameters i.e., Biological Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, and nutrients. The results showed that the MBBR system as a bio-friendly method has high efficiency in removing Nevirapine, Tenofovir, Efavirenz, Ritonavir and Emtricitabine from the synthetic influent sample with an average removal of 62%, 74%, 94%, 94% and 95% respectively after 10 days of operation.