Impact of Drinking Water Treatment on Removal of Microplastics
Abstract
The occurrence and removal of microplastics (MPs) was characterized throughout 6 drinking watertreatment facilities using a consistent sampling and analytical methodology. MPs were characterized by polymer, size (≥ 2 μm), and morphology using a novel two-phase Raman spectroscopy approach; all concentrations were corrected using procedural blanks. In untreated source waters, concentrations ranged from 3,242 ± 54 to 10,808 ± 98 MP/L, with PP and PE representing the most common polymers. Treatment facilities were observed to achieve removals of 98.9 to 100%. No clear trend was observed when comparing finished water concentrations (1.5 ± 0.1 to 153 ± 1 MP/L) to those in distribution systems (16.8 ± 0.5 to 136.8 ± 9.6 MP/L), both were dominated by particles < 20 μm (47 to 92%). Overall findings of this study provide insight into MP exposure via drinking water and may be used to inform future directions regarding the regulation of MPs.
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