## 3 Results and Discussion
### Technology Implementation for Micropolitan Treatment in WWTPs
Small hydrophilic contaminants such as corrosion inhibitors (benzotriazole), pharmaceuticals, artificial sweeteners such as acesulfame and sacchar, and industrial chemicals can pass the RO membrane into wastewater effluents. Low concentrations of pesticides such as metolachlor and propiconazole and pharmaceuticals such as lamotrigine and tramadol were also detected. Even some large and hydrophobic chemicals can pass through the RO membrane. RO treatment is therefore ineffective for these molecules [32]. The absence of a cost-effective chemical-physical treatment for decontamination of large water bodies from OMPs emphasizes the advantages of using the biological approach. In order to comprise a cost-effective and safe treatment, a bio-selective treatment should be implemented in the wastewater treatment bioreactor as an additive treatment or at the secondary clarifier stage as a polisher treatment. The biological treatment approach using selective bacterial cultures targeting OMPs as a carbon source may present as a good strategy for OMP removal without the need to treat the entire organic matter present in the water body. As seen in this study, dissolved contaminants in the water are expected to traffic from the water into the SBP capsule's internal medium. When the concentration of the contaminants inside the capsule decreases due to degradation and mineralization of the molecules to carbon dioxide by the bacteria, this will cause a concentration gradient that will increase the diffusion of the contaminant into the SBP capsule, thus creating an efficient biodegradation process. We are therefore presenting a treatment method that does not necessitate transporting the entire water body through a treatment medium, which is necessary when using RO and PAC media. The SBP treatment approach is expected to reduce most of the associated energy investment for water-circulating processes such as RO and PAC. In the present study we demonstrate that a bioaugmentation treatment may present a useful solution that enables treatment of target OMPs instead of using a filtration treatment approach (RO or PAC). The SBP technology can be implemented inside a host DWWTP bioreactor in perforated cages as presented in our previous study [34], in order to remove OMPs. Moreover, it can also be implemented inside the secondary sedimentation tank for OMPs removal. There is thus no need to change the infrastructure for using this technology. The secondary effluent results demonstrate significant EE2 removal (64%) after 1 h of incubation, indicating that bioaugmentation can be implemented within WWTP secondary clarifiers for reducing the EE2 concentration in the effluents. We estimate that EE2 bio-treatment kinetics and efficiency over time should be increased to over 90% reduction after 6 h of contact in order to comprise a practical solution that can be integrated in the secondary clarifier tank. Future research should explore EE2 biodegradation by various encapsulated (homogenetic or hetrogenetic) cultures in different aquatic environments in order to find the right combination that will enable a practical bio-treatment solution for reducing OMP concentrations in effluents.