Development of new waste water decontamination system that is more efficient, faster and cheaper



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## Development of new waste water decontamination system that is more efficient, faster and cheaper

26/06/2024 |
SCP

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* [![ sistema-descontaminacio _y5a6751](/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2024/6/sistema-descontaminacio/_y5a6751.jpg)](#)

A team from the ISIRYM Institute of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, UPV-CSIC), the Institute of Pesticides and Water Resources of the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló (UJI) and the University of Antioquia has developed a new, more efficient, faster and cheaper system for decontaminating wastewater. Based on the combined use of zeolites and ozone, its use would facilitate the reuse of water for agriculture.

"Water reuse is a medium to long-term policy within the EU to solve part of the water scarcity problem. The sources of diffuse pollution, runoff, untreated or treated catchment systems, generate problems of emerging pollutants of interest, such as pharmaceuticals, which have a very low concentration but a high metabolic activity," explains Javier Navarro, a researcher at the University Institute of Industrial Safety, Radiophysics and the Environment (ISIRYM) of the Universitat Politècnica de València.

Eliminating residues of pharmaceuticals and other phytosanitary products from water treated by conventional methods, such as in municipal wastewater treatment plants, is "a necessary step to reduce the presence of these micropollutants in wastewater so that it can be reused with total safety for people and the environment", says Elena Pitarch, a researcher at the University Institute of Pesticides and Water Resources of the UJI.

In a recent study published in the journal *Science of the Total Environment*, the research team has shown that the use of commercial zeolites, inexpensive compounds with very low environmental impact, in combination with ozone, makes it possible to eliminate pharmaceutical compounds present in wastewater. And it does so faster and more efficiently.

"This system combines existing technologies in water treatment processes, but uses catalysts to speed up and improve the treatment. With our method, it is possible to remove 90% of the pharmaceuticals present in about ten minutes. In the absence of zeolite as a catalyst, this time increases to 25 minutes, which shows that catalytic ozonation is an alternative that would improve the economic performance of ozonation", says Antonio Chica of the Institute of Chemical Technology, a joint centre of UPV and CSIC.

**Scalable to water treatment plants**

The tests were carried out on real water, which guarantees the applicability of the methodology in real operating situations. In addition, the existing technology is scalable, making it possible to apply it to existing wastewater treatment plants, facilitating the treatment of large water flows and their subsequent reuse.

"The use of zeolites together with the ozonisation process means an efficient system for the oxidation (removal) of micropollutants that is scalable to existing wastewater treatment plants and the use of a technology that poses no subsequent environmental risk. Ozone breaks down into oxygen and other compounds such as hydrogen peroxide, while zeolites are inorganic substances that occur naturally and do not produce other toxic or hazardous substances. In addition, the catalyst, zeolite, is inexpensive and relatively easy to modify for more specific applications", concludes Ricardo Torres Palma of the Environmental Remediation and Biocatalysis Research Group at the University of Antioquia.

**Photo**: The UJI team participating in the project. Elena Pitarch, Claudia Simarro and Félix Hernández. Author: Àlex Pérez.

**Article:**

Prada-Vásquez MA, Simarro-Gimeno C, Vidal-Barreiro I, Cardona-Gallo SA, Pitarch E, Hernández F, Torres-Palma RA, Chica A, Navarro-Laboulais J. [Application of catalytic ozonation using Y zeolite in the elimination of pharmaceuticals in effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants](http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171625). Sci Total Environ. 2024 May 15;925:171625. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171625. Epub 2024 Mar 11. PMID: 38467258.

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