Investigation on removal pathways of Di 2-ethyl hexyl phthalate from synthetic municipal wastewater using a submerged membrane bioreactor

Highly hydrophobic Di 2-ethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP) is one of the most prevalent plasticizers in wastewaters. Since its half-life in biological treatment is around 25 days, it can be used as an efficiency indicator of wastewater treatment plant for the removal of hydrophobic emerging contaminants. In this study, the performance of submerged membrane bioreactor was monitored to understand the effect of DEHP on the growth of aerobic microorganisms. The data showed that the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia concentration were detected below 10 and 1.0 mg/L, respectively for operating conditions of hydraulic retention time (HRT) = 4 and 6 hr, sludge retention time (SRT) = 140 day and sludge concentration between 11.5 and 15.8 g volatile solid (VS)/L. The removal efficiency of DEHP under these conditions was higher and ranged between 91% and 98%. Results also showed that the removal efficiency of DEHP in biological treatment depended on the concentration of sludge, as adsorption is the main mechanism of its removal. For the submerged membrane bioreactor, the pore size is the pivotal factor for DEHP removal, since it determines the amount of soluble microbial products coming out of the process. Highly assimilated microorganisms increase the biodegradation rate, as 74% of inlet DEHP was biodegraded; however, the concentration of DEHP inside sludge was beyond the discharge limit. Understanding the fate of DEHP in membrane bioreactor, which is one of the most promising and futuristic treatment process could provide replacement for conventional processes to satisfy the future stricter regulations on emerging contaminants.