Removal of micropollutants during tertiary wastewater treatment by biofiltration: Role of nitrifiers and removal mechanisms.

The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which a suite of organic micropollutants (MPs) can be removed by biological filtration and the role of bioavailability and ammonia oxidizing microorganisms (AOMs) in the biodegradation process. During approximately one year, laboratory-scale columns with 8 min empty bed contact time (EBCT) and packed with anthracite as filter media were used for treating a tertiary effluent spiked with a broad range of MPs at a target concentration of 2 μg L(-1). In parallel columns, aerobic biomass growth was inhibited by using either the biocide sodium azide (500 mg L(-1) NaN3) or allylthiourea (5 mg L(-1) ATU), specifically inhibiting nitrifying bacteria. Once the biomass had colonized the media, around 15% of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) contained in the untreated tertiary effluent was removed by non-inhibited columns. The removal of several MPs increased over time indicating the relevance of biological activity for the removal of MPs, while the negative control, the NaN3 inhibited column, showed no significant removal. Out of 33 MPs, 19 were recalcitrant (<25%) to biodegradation under aerobic conditions with the others exhibiting a diverse range of removal efficiency up to 95%. Through inhibition by ATU it was shown that nitrifying bacteria were clearly having a role in the degradation of several MPs, whereas the removal of other MPs was not affected by the presence of the nitrification inhibitor. A relationship between the qualitative assessment of sorption of MPs on granular activated carbon (GAC) and their removal efficiency by biodegradation on anthracite was observed. This result suggested that the affinity of the MPs for GAC media could be a useful indicator of the bioavailability of compounds during biofiltration on anthracite.