Simultaneous Oxidation of Emerging Pollutants in Real Wastewater by the Advanced Fenton Oxidation Process

Since the conventional processes employed in most wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) worldwide are not designed to entirely remove or oxidize emerging pollutants, which, due to their incidence and persistence, can cause damage to both the environment and human health, several options for their degradation and removal have emerged. Coupling the advanced Fenton oxidation process as a polishing or tertiary wastewater treatment alternative within conventional WWTP processes stands out among the treatment options. Therefore, the main objective of this research was to evaluate, at the laboratory level, the ability of the advanced Fenton oxidation process to oxidize triclosan, ibuprofen, DEET (N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide), carbamazepine, caffeine, and acesulfame-K, which represent several groups of emerging pollutants in real wastewater from the second settling tank of a municipal WWTP. The compound used as a catalyst (Fe2+) supplier in the advanced Fenton oxidation process was ferrous sulfate heptahydrate (FeSO4•7H2O). The results obtained upon application showed that the advanced Fenton oxidation process could simultaneously oxidize and remove practically the total concentration of the above-mentioned emerging pollutants, except for DEET (85.21%), in conjunction with the chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and fecal coliforms (FC, pathogen group) in the effluent generated by the advanced Fenton oxidation process.