Microplastic in water and wastewater
Abstract
This thesis addresses three challenges related to the microplastic contamination in water and wastewater treatment plants. The first challenge is the multiple methodologies used to collect, quantify, and characterize microplastics in both wastewater and drinking water. Our study shows a lack of consensus regarding the techniques used at all of the stages (from collection to characterization) required for the quantification of microplastics in urban water systems. This represents a barrier to accurately determine the loads of microplastic contamination and to the comparison of the results obtained among different studies. Our results indicate large discrepancies in the concentrations reported in both wastewater effluents and drinking water, microplastic characteristics (i.e. size, color, shape, and composition), and quality control and assurance procedures. Finally, we propose the use of a ranking system that can stimulate researchers to reduce the deficit of studies using the results obtained in the high-ranked papers. The second challenge is the large contribution of wastewater treatment plants in discharging microplastic into natural bodies of water. This study evaluated the use of electrocoagulation for the removal of microplastics from both synthetic wastewater solutions and real wastewater effluents. The experiments were performed in batch reactors using commercial polyester microplastic glitter. The results indicate removal efficiencies in synthetic wastewater ranging…
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