Study Proves BioLargo AOS Technology Removes Pharmaceuticals In Municipal Wastewater
BioLargo, Inc (through its subsidiary BioLargo Water) recently published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal article the results of a third party study examining removal of pharmaceuticals from municipal wastewater.
The two-year study completed in collaboration with the Centre des Technologies de l’Eau assessed BioLargo’s Advanced Oxidation System (AOS) for decontamination of municipal wastewater. This study demonstrated the AOS as a viable solution at scale for the removal of pharmaceuticals products (PPs).
Although not regulated in the US, municipal wastewaters can contain diverse pharmaceutical products that may present long-term risks to receiving water bodies and ecosystems with diclofenac, carbamazepine, sulfamethoxazole, ibuprofen, and naproxen being among the most detected pharmaceuticals in the environment. Conventional wastewater treatment plants are not designed to include specific technologies for efficient removal of pharmaceuticals. Consequently, development of efficient and sustainable technologies for their removal remains an unsolved problem especially as their impacts on human health and the environment are better understood.
Two pilot-scale AOS reactors were installed at the municipal wastewater treatment plant in Vaudreuil-Dorion, QC, Canada. Vaudreuil-Dorion is a conventional WWTP with a physicochemical pre-treatment, biological secondary treatment, and UV disinfection. Operating in series at flow rate of 18.9 L/min and an estimated cost of $0.21/m3 water treated, the two AOS reactors combined to eliminate 79% to 89% of 9 prevalent pharmaceuticals products in the wastewater. Under these conditions, 50% total organic carbon removal was also achieved.
The addition of AOS reactors significantly impacted performance of the treatment system for PPs. The current conventional WWTP achieves 1.2% to 61.7% removal of the examined pharmaceuticals. The addition of two AOS units enhanced removal of the 9 PPs above 80%.
Mechanistic studies suggest the AOS eliminates pharmaceuticals through a combination of adsorption and electrochemical oxidation. The AOS produces reactive oxygen species such as .OH and H2O2 in the reactor to oxidize pharmaceutical products in wastewater.
Pharmaceuticals have been shown to have an impact on the extractable, absorbable organic fluorine total in wastewater, a level that the US EPA is looking at monitoring as a marker for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) another class of water contaminants of emerging regulatory concern.
This study demonstrated the AOS technology as a promising new technology for wastewater treatment. Coupled with the company’s Aqueous Electrostatic Concentrator (AEC), The AOS offers a plant integrated or end-of-pipe solution to address the growing need to address the impact of pharmaceuticals in wastewater.
To learn more about BioLargo’s AOS solution, visit www.biolargowatercom.
About BioLargo, Inc.
BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB:BLGO) is a cleantech and life sciences innovator and engineering services solution provider. Our core products address PFAS contamination, achieve advanced water and wastewater treatment, control odor and VOCs, improve air quality, enable energy-efficiency and safe on-site energy storage, and control infections and infectious disease. Our approach is to invent or acquire novel technologies, develop them into product offerings, and extend their commercial reach through licensing and channel partnerships to maximize their impact. See our website at www.BioLargo.com.