Nursing home (NH) wastewater was pretreated in an ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor (MBR) and subsequently ozonated in a pilot plant in order to evaluate the elimination of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs). Dosing of the pre-treated wastewater with 5 mg ozone (O) L led to the elimination of >50% for nearly all investigated PhACs in the ozonation plant, whereas dosing 10 mg O L increased elimination to >80%. A total hydraulic retention time of 12.8 min proved sufficient for PhAC elimination. Specific ozone consumption and influent dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (8.2-9.5 mg L) were in similar ranges for all three performed trials. Combining the MBR with subsequent ozonation at a dosage of 5 mg O L achieved elimination of >90% and effluent concentrations below 250 ng L for nearly all the investigated PhACs. Influent concentrations of the MBR were comparable to those found in municipal wastewater. Thus, the recommended dosage for PhAC elimination of 5 mg O L (i.e. a specific consumption of 0.6 g O*(g DOC)) is in the same range as for municipal wastewater. However, due to a smaller plant size, the specific costs for treating NH wastewater would significantly exceed those of treating municipal wastewater.
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