Seasonal variations in the concentration and removal of nonylphenol ethoxylates from the wastewater of a sewage treatment plant
Dawen Gao
,
Hong Liang
,
Junxue Guan
,
Zhe Li
DOI:10.1016/j.jes.2016.02.005
Received November 21, 2015,Revised February 14, 2016, Accepted February 17, 2016, Available online March 09, 2016
Volume 29,2017,Pages 217-223
In this study, we investigated the occurrence and fate of nonylphenol (NP), nonylphenol monoethoxylate (NP1EO) and nonylphenol diethoxylate (NP2EO) in a full scale sewage treatment plant, which applied an Anaerobic/Oxic process. Concentrations of NP, NP1EO and NP2EO in the wastewater were measured during the period spanning a whole year. The results showed remarkable seasonal variation in the concentrations of the compounds. The NPnEO compounds were most abundant in winter, with the total concentrations of influent NP, NP1EO and NP2EO ranging from 3900 to 7000 ng/L, 4000 to 4800 ng/L and 5200 to 7200 ng/L, respectively. Regarding the total removal efficiencies of the three types of short-chain NPnEO compounds, different trends were exhibited according to different seasons. The average removal efficiency of NP for the different seasons ranked as follows: winter > summer > autumn > spring; NP2EO concentrations decreased as follows: summer > autumn > winter > spring, while NP1EO concentrations reduced according to: spring > summer > autumn > winter. We also investigated the contribution ratio of individual treatment units in the A/O process, with the findings suggesting that the anaerobic treatment unit plays an important role in the elimination of short-chain NPnEOs from the wastewater.
