Selection of indicator contaminants of emerging concern when reusing reclaimed water for irrigation - A proposed methodology

P Verlicchi; V Grillini; E Lacasa; E Archer; P Krzeminski; A I Gomes; V J P Vilar; M A Rodrigo; J Gäbler; L Schäfer

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162359

Selection of indicator contaminants of emerging concern when reusing reclaimed water for irrigation - A proposed methodology

Sci Total Environ. 2023 May 15:873:162359. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162359. Epub 2023 Feb 21.

Authors

P Verlicchi¹, V Grillini², E Lacasa³, E Archer⁴, P Krzeminski⁵, A I Gomes⁶, V J P Vilar⁷, M A Rodrigo⁸, J Gäbler⁹, L Schäfer¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Engineering, University of Ferrara, Via Saragat 1, 44121 Ferrara, Italy. Electronic address: paola.verlicchi@unife.it.
² Department of Engineering, University of Ferrara, Via Saragat 1, 44121 Ferrara, Italy. Electronic address: vittoria.grillini@unife.it.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, Albacete, 02071, Spain. Electronic address: engracia.lacasa@uclm.es.
⁴ Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa. Electronic address: earcher@sun.ac.za.
⁵ Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Urban Environments and Infrastructure Section, Økernveien 94, N-0579 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: Pawel.Krzeminski@niva.no.
⁶ Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering-Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering (ALiCE), Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: ana.isabelgomes@fe.up.pt.
⁷ Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering-Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering (ALiCE), Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: vilar@fe.up.pt.
⁸ Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain. Electronic address: Manuel.Rodrigo@uclm.es.
⁹ Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, 38108 Braunschweig, Germany. Electronic address: jan.gaebler@ist.fraunhofer.de.
¹⁰ Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, 38108 Braunschweig, Germany. Electronic address: Lothar.Schaefer@ist.fraunhofer.de.

PMID: 36822429
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162359

Abstract

Organic and microbial contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), even though not yet regulated, are of great concern in reclaimed water reuse projects. Due to the large number of CECs and their different characteristics, it is useful to include only a limited number of them in monitoring programs. The selection of the most representative CECs is still a current and open question. This study presents a new methodology for this scope, in particular for the evaluation of the performance of a polishing treatment and the assessment of the risk for the environment and the irrigated crops. As to organic CECs, the methodology is based on four criteria (occurrence, persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity) expressed in terms of surrogates (respectively, concentrations in the secondary effluent, removal achieved in conventional activated sludge systems, Log K_ow and predicted-no-effect concentration). It consists of: (i) development of a dataset including the CECs found in the secondary effluent, together with the corresponding values of surrogates found in the literature or by in-field investigations; (ii) normalization step with the assignment of a score between 1 (low environmental impact) and 5 (high environmental impact) to the different criteria based on threshold values set according to the literature and experts' judgement; (iii) CEC ranking according to their final score obtained as the sum of the specific scores; and (iv) selection of the representative CECs for the different needs. Regarding microbial CECs, the selection is based on their occurrence and their highest detection frequency in the secondary effluent and in the receiving water, the antibiotic consumption patterns, and recommendations by national and international organisations. The methodology was applied within the ongoing reuse project SERPIC resulting in a list of 30 indicator CECs, including amoxicillin, bisphenol A, ciprofloxacin, diclofenac, erythromycin, ibuprofen, iopromide, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, Escherichia coli, faecal coliform, 16S rRNA, sul1, and sul2.

Keywords: Agricultural reuse; Antibiotic resistance genes; Antibiotic resistant bacteria; Indicator CECs; OPBT approach; Wastewater reclamation.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Sewage
Wastewater*
Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Wastewater
Water
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Sewage
Anti-Bacterial Agents