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Water Scarcity and Ways to Reduce the Impact pp 1–14Cite as

Sustainable Management of Municipal Wastewater Reverse Osmosis Concentrate: Treatment with Biological Activated Carbon Based Processes for Safe Disposal

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Abstract

Reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) streams generated from RO-based municipal wastewater reclamation processes pose environmental and health risks on their disposal to sensitive water environments. Management of the ROC remains a big economic and technological challenge for the water industry to sustain the practice of water recycling. This paper presents some recent investigations into the effectiveness of biological activated carbon (BAC) process , as a potentially cost -effective and environmentally benign treatment option, for removing organic matter and nutrients (N and P) from the ROC and reducing its toxicity . The impact of ROC characteristics and pretreatment options including advanced oxidation (UV/H2O2) and chemical coagulation (FeCl3) on the treatment efficiency is discussed. Further information about bacterial communities in the BAC system is provided for a better understanding of the effectiveness and robustness of the BAC system at different salinity levels. Overall, BAC-based processes have been demonstrated as a resilient treatment for reducing the environmental risks associated with municipal wastewater ROC.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr Shovana Pradhan for her significant contribution to the experimental work reported here.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

    Linhua Fan & Felicity A. Roddick

Authors
  1. Linhua Fan
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  2. Felicity A. Roddick
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Linhua Fan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Muthu Pannirselvam

  2. LJS Environment, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    Li Shu

  3. RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Gregory Griffin

  4. Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    Ligy Philip

  5. Tamilnadu Water Investment Company, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    Ashok Natarajan

  6. Tamilnadu Water Investment Company, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    Sajid Hussain

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Fan, L., Roddick, F.A. (2019). Sustainable Management of Municipal Wastewater Reverse Osmosis Concentrate: Treatment with Biological Activated Carbon Based Processes for Safe Disposal. In: Pannirselvam, M., Shu, L., Griffin, G., Philip, L., Natarajan, A., Hussain, S. (eds) Water Scarcity and Ways to Reduce the Impact. Applied Environmental Science and Engineering for a Sustainable Future. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75199-3_1

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