Occurrence and Fate of Microplastics in Water Treatment Systems

Session: Microplastics in the Environment: Source, Fate, Impact, Detection, and Mitigation (2)

Yongli Zhang, Wayne State University, [email protected]
Allison Diehl, Wayne State University, [email protected]
Ashton Lewandowski, Wayne State University, [email protected]
Mark Cheng, Wayne State University, Electrical and Computer Engineering, [email protected]
Carol Miller, Wayne State University, 2154 Engineering Bldg, [email protected]
Tracie Baker, [email protected]

Abstract

Water pollution due to the widespread presence of microplastics is an urgent global problem. Recent studies of 159 tap water samples taken from several countries and 259 bottled water samples across 11 brands showed that 81% of tap water and 93% of bottled water contained MPs. This work aims at better understanding the occurrence, fate and partitioning of microplastics in water treatment systems, as well as the interactions of microplastics and water microbiome. Bench-scale experiments and field-water sampling were conducted to evaluate the removal efficiency and partitioning of microplastics in different water treatment processes, as particularly pertaining to sedimentation and filtration. In addition, the interactions of microplastics and water microbiome were investigated by studying bacterial growth, profile, and antibiotic resistance in water with and without the presence of microplastics. Results suggest that microplastics’ densities / sizes and filtration materials can affect the removal efficiency of microplastics in water treatment systems. The presence of microplastics significantly enhances bacterial proliferation and antibiotic resistance. In addition, biofilms are easily formed on microplastic surfaces and are able to breakdown microplastics to smaller particles, posing significant challenges for the monitoring and detection of microplastics.