Occurrence and removal of selected organic micropollutants at mechanical, chemical and advanced wastewater treatment plants in Norway.

In Norway the combined hydraulic capacity of all domestic wastewater treatment plants is relatively equally distributed between three major treatment plant types; mechanical, chemical, and combined chemical and biological. The Western coast from Lindesnes in the south to the Russian boarder in the North is dominated by mechanical treatment plants, constituting approximately 68% of the treatment capacity in that area. In the present study we report concentrations and removal efficiencies of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nonylphenols, phthalates, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in five Norwegian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) applying different levels of treatment. Concentrations of organic micropollutants in the influents to the WWTPs were generally in the low range of what have been reported by others for domestic wastewater in Europe and North-America. More than 90% removal could be obtained for nonylphenols, PBDEs, and the more hydrophobic 4-6 ring PAHs by chemical precipitation, however, biological treatment appeared to be necessary for efficient removal of the less lipophilic 2 and 3 ring PAHs, the medium- to short-chained nonylphenol ethoxylates and diethyl phthalate. SigmaPCB(7) was removed by more than 90% by combined biological/chemical treatment, while removal efficiency by chemical treatment was not possible to estimate due to low inlet concentrations. Low or insignificant removals of PAHs, phthalates and nonylphenols with their ethoxylates were observed at the mechanical WWTP, which was in accordance with the minuscule removal of TOC.

An automated spectrophotometric system for monitoring buffer capacity in anaerobic digestion processes.

Anaerobic digestion is a suitable method for the treatment of wastewater and organic wastes, yielding biogas as a useful by-product. A common way of preventing instability problems and avoiding acidification in anaerobic digesters is to keep the organic load to the digester far below its maximum capacity. An improved way of operating digesters would be to use monitoring and control systems for increased organic load under controlled conditions such that the digester performance is improved. The partial alkalinity, which indicates the bicarbonate concentration, has in many cases been found to be a suitable parameter to monitor. Here, an automated monitoring system for alkalinity measurements is described. It is shown to be applicable for measuring a wide range of bicarbonate concentrations. The system shows potential for monitoring anaerobic digesters as it responds to the alkalinity of digester effluent, as well as being stable over a relatively long time span with few maintenance requirements.