engleski

Efficiency of the commercially RO/NF membranes in removal of anthelmintic drugs from artificial wastewater

As shown in recently literature, increased quantities of different pharmaceuticals and other organic micropollutants can be found in the wastewater and finally in the aquatic environment. The intensive research, development and application of membrane technologies in the last decade resulted in their high efficiency and ecological acceptability. Therefore they are labeled as the most promising water treatment technologies for the 21st century. The goal of this work was to investigate efficiency of commercially available energy – saving, high productivity and low fouling reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes in removal of anthelmintic drugs (albendazol, febantel, levamisol, praziquantel) from artificial wastewater. For this purpose different commercial composite RO/NF membrane types were characterized and tested with wastewater. The performance results showed good removal (>80 %) of all drugs by the RO membranes (LFC– 1 and XLE) and by the tight nanofiltration membranes (NF90 and NF270). Only the loose NF membranes (NF and DK) incompletely rejected tested anthelmintic drugs. Rejections are from 25 to 100 %. The membranes' performance data were explained by the evaluated membranes’ porosities, and shown to be mainly controlled by the size exclusion mechanism. This is based on the idea that solutes larger than the pore size of the membrane cannot permeate through it.

anthelmintic drugs; RO/NF membrane treatment

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