فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

The occurrence of antibiotics as emerging contaminants (ECs) in municipal wastewater poses significant environmental and public health concerns, including the proliferation of antibiotic resistance. This study monitored antibiotic concentrations in the influent and effluent of the Kerman City wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) over over a one-year period from December 2022 to November 2023 and evaluated the efficacy of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for their removal. For the first time, the study assessed the performance of two hybrid AOP configurations: (i) AOP1, combining a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) with ozonation (MBBR+O₃), and (ii) AOP2, integrating MBBR, ozonation, a UV-assisted Fenton process with a ferrous ion catalyst, and an activated carbon filter (MBBR+O₃+UV/Fenton-Fe²⁺+Activated Carbon). Target antibiotics included sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, tetracycline, amoxicillin, and azithromycin. AOP1 (60-min MBBR aeration followed by 30-min O₃ at 50 mg/L) achieved removal efficiencies of 62.7%, 63.7%, 70.0%, 57.3%, and 54.5% for the respective antibiotics. AOP2, incorporating a 60-min UV/Fenton oxidation step followed by activated carbon filtration, demonstrated significantly enhanced removal: 97.2% for sulfamethoxazole, 100% for trimethoprim, tetracycline, and amoxicillin, and 98.5% for azithromycin. The results confirm the high efficiency of hybrid AOPs, particularly the integrated AOP2 system, for removing antibiotic ECs. This study underscores the necessity of incorporating combined oxidation processes, with due consideration of the wastewater matrix, during the feasibility assessment and pre-design phases of upgrading existing WWTP infrastructure.