LAPSE:2023.0832
Published Article
LAPSE:2023.0832
Tertiary Wastewater Treatment Technologies: A Review of Technical, Economic, and Life Cycle Aspects
February 21, 2023
The activated sludge process is the most widespread sewage treatment method. It typically consists of a pretreatment step, followed by a primary settling tank, an aerobic degradation process, and, finally, a secondary settling tank. The secondary effluent is then usually chlorinated and discharged to a water body. Tertiary treatment aims at improving the characteristics of the secondary effluent to facilitate its reuse. In this work, through a literature review of the most prominent tertiary treatment methods, a benchmarking of their technical efficiency, economic feasibility, and environmental impact was carried out. The photo-Fenton method proved to be the most technically efficient process, significantly reducing the microbial load and pharmaceutical content (by 4.9 log and 84%, respectively) of the secondary effluent. Chlorination and UV irradiation exhibited the lowest treatment costs (0.004 EUR/m−3) and the lowest global warming potential (0.04 and 0.09 kg CO2eq. m−3, respectively). After all the data were aggregated, a decision-making tool was constructed in the form of a ternary diagram, which indicates the most appropriate tertiary treatment method according to the weight-per-process aspect (technical, economic, and environmental) selected by the user, with chlorination, UV irradiation, ozonation, microalgae cultivation, and constructed wetlands prevailing in the final results.
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Keywords
chlorination, constructed wetlands, life cycle assessment, microalgae, ozonation, technoeconomic, tertiary wastewater treatment
Subject
Suggested Citation
Zagklis DP, Bampos G. Tertiary Wastewater Treatment Technologies: A Review of Technical, Economic, and Life Cycle Aspects. (2023). LAPSE:2023.0832
Author Affiliations
Journal Name
Processes
Volume
10
Issue
11
First Page
2304
Year
2022
Publication Date
2022-11-05
ISSN
2227-9717
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Original Submission
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PII: pr10112304, Publication Type: Review
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LAPSE:2023.0832
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https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10112304
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Feb 21, 2023
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