IWRA Proceedings

INTRODUCTION

MPs could cause chronic toxicity, which is considered as a key issue in long term exposure

• Toxicity could be directly caused by the polymer materials used for manufacturing plastic products, especially their monomers.
• Inflict damage on organisms and cause inflammation due to their small size and sharp ends.
• Additives or hazardous compounds attached to them.

WWTPS have been identified as one of the most important source of PLASTIC RELEASE, which may lead to further CONTAMINATION of the aquatic and terrestrial environments.

OBJECTIVES

• Renaturalization of reclaimed water through managed aquifer recharge (MAR) system.
• Use of reactive barriers to reduce pollutants and attenuate their total loads.
• Within these projects, reactive barriers will be tested in two WWTP located in Cambrils (Tarragona) and Palamós (Girona)
• CHARACTERIZATION of MPs along the treatment process of both WWTP and in the MAR system.

CONCLUSIONS

• The method applied for the isolation of MPs allowed the correct and accurate extraction and posterior characterisation of MPs.
• Evaluate the performance of the reactive barriers on the retention of MPs. Propose new materials to further increase retention capacity.
• Reactive barriers were sampled at different depths after secondary effluent infiltration in Palamós MAR system. Reactive barriers allow further retention of MPs.
• The content of MPs was greatly reduced throughout the treatment process in Cambrils. Palamós’ WWTP is currently being sampled.
• WWTPS treatments provide high elimination on MPs ( > 90%). However, since huge quantities of MPs are reaching the site, still high amounts of particles surpass WWTPs and are released into the environment.

January 18th, 2023 - 09:25 CET