Removals of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in reclaimed water during soil aquifer treatment with different soil types, hydraulic retention time, and saturated condition

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are ubiquitous in aquatic environments. For controlling PPCPs in water reclamation, soil aquifer treatment (SAT) is an attractive way because of its low operational cost and stable performance. In this study, 42 PPCPs in A2O (anaerobic-anoxic-oxic process) water were measured, and the removals of 30 PPCPs in SAT with Masa soil, sand and Toyoura sand with a HRT (Hydraulic retention time) of 7 days were compared. The three SAT columns could remove antibiotic PPCPs, and Masa soil performed best on the removal of antibiotic PPCPs. Also, most non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, i.e., mefenamic acid, diclofenac, triclosan and ketoprofen) were removed in the three kinds of columns probably through biodegradation. Increasing HRT enhanced the removal of acetaminophen, theophylline, crotamiton, and caffeine. In addition, better removals were observed in unsaturated condition than in saturated condition for diclofenac, aspirin, sulfamethoxazole, primidone, furosemide, crotamiton, and benzophenone. Overall, most NSAIDs and most antibiotic could be removed under any conditions tested in this study.