Removal of non-ionic and anionic surfactants from real laundry wastewater by means of a full-scale treatment system

Surfactants are considered emerging contaminants, that can represent a source of problems for environment and human health. This paper aims to quantify the effect of a thermophilic aerobic membrane reactor (TAMR), nanofiltration (NF) and adsorption on activated carbon (AC) for the removal of non-ionic surfactants (TAS) and anionic surfactants (MBAS) from a real laundry wastewater. This study included daily monitoring of a full-scale plant for more than three months. The results showed that the TAMR process has been able to withstand high stress conditions (sudden load peaks) and resist to a high concentration of surfactants, allowing it to perform an effective pre-treatment activity. Both in the case of the removal of TAS and of MBAS, the combination of processes made it possible to obtain higher removal yields. Evaluating the operating costs, the results suggested that TAMR + NF represented the optimal combination of processes for the removal of TAS and MBAS. The TAMR + NF + AC sequence allowed almost complete removal of TAS (> 95%) and high removal of MBAS (> 76%) but the costs per unit of mass removed were high.