AWWA ACE59916

Endocrine-disrupting compounds, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (EDC/PPCPs) have been linked to a variety of adverse effects on wildlife. Some public and regulatory agencies view EDC/PPCP compounds in drinking water as a potential human health risk. Pesticides and herbicides can be EDCs and have been detected in surface and finished drinking waters since the 1970s. However, over the past decade as analytical techniques to detect parts-per-trillion levels of organic compounds, many industrial-produced chemicals have been detected in finished wastewater, industrial runoff, rivers, drinking water sources, and even finished drinking water. This paper is based upon results from bench-scale testing on an AwwaRF project #2758. Researchers, consultants, and utilities will be interested in this paper as it addresses actual removal of emerging contaminants (in this study 67 target compounds) spanning a wide range of chemical structures, and will aid in design of future bench and pilot-scale tests for evaluating EDC/PPCPs. Bench-scale experiments have been conducted in model waters with natural organic matter and four natural waters from around the United States. The waters were spiked with a suite of EDC/PPCP compounds (initial concentration of 50 to 500 ng/L). Each water spiked with the EDC/PPCP compound mixture was subjected to several parallel bench-scale treatments that include: alum and ferric coagulation at multiple pH levels; chemical softening (pH 9, >11); chlorination (SDS conditions); ozonation (Giardia inactivation levels, plus hydrogen peroxide addition); activated carbon adsorption (2 PACs with four hour contact times at various dosages); deadend membrane filtration (negatively charged/hydrophobic UF and NF membrane); and, biological batch and column tests. Additional UV-photolysis tests and limited biodegradation experiments are planned. LC-MS/MS & GC-MS/MS methods were used to analyze the suite of compounds. Supplemental experiments using tritium (³H) labeled estradiol were conducted with PAC and membrane tests. Pilot- and full-scale testing will be conducted during subsequent phases of the project. Includes 2 references, table, figures.