This study assessed the removal of four pharmaceutical organic micropollutants (carbamazepine, diclofenac, ibuprofen, and naproxen) in meso-scale constructed wetlands (CWs) operated as bioelectrochemical systems (BES), specifically microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and microbial electrolysis cells (MECs), applying a realistic horizontal flow regime and through continuous real urban wastewater feeding. Although CW-BES treatments showed modest, non-significant increases in removal efficiencies for carbamazepine, diclofenac, and naproxen compared to conventional CWs, these differences lacked statistical significance. Findings indicate that under environmentally realistic conditions, CW-BES do not significantly outperform conventional CWs in pharmaceutical organic micropollutants (OMP) removal, contrasting with prior positive results from controlled lab-scale studies using synthetic wastewater.
Categories