Contaminantes recalcitrantes, el reto en el tratamiento de aguas residuales

Abstract

Water is a resource that we use every day, it is a fundamental part of our existence, so much so that we need to consume at least 2 liters of water daily for the proper functioning of our body. Likewise, we use it in our hygiene, for washing clothes, fruits, utensils, cars, for transporting our organic waste and other activities. All this water, which we generally use only once, goes directly to the drainage pipe, mixing with other types of wastewaters, such as those discharged by industries and hospitals, increasing the variety of pollutants until it arrives, in the best of cases, to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). However, some of the contaminants contained in wastewater cannot be degraded or removed by conventional treatments used in WWTP, such as activated sludge, one of the most used in treatment plants in Mexico. Among these recalcitrant compounds are some personal care products, cleaning products and pharmaceuticals, especially antibiotics. The presence of these latter in water bodies such as aquifers or lakes, where part of the treated water is sent, represents a risk to aquatic life and human health. Then, this makes necessary to work in the search of advanced treatments to achieve the degradation or removal of this type of contaminants in wastewater. This article shows an overview of wastewater, the problems of conventional treatment processes to degrade certain organic compounds, as well as some of the advanced treatments that are being developed to degrade or eliminate these recalcitrant contaminants.