Synergistic approaches for effective estrogen degradation in wastewater treatment: wetland-UV/O3 pilot-scale investigation.

The presence of estrogens in wastewater treatment plant effluent is increasingly recognized as a significant concern for environmental health. In this study, we showcase the efficacy of a pilot-scale 5 m3/d artificial wetland-UV/O3 advanced oxidation treatment system in consistently achieving removal efficiencies exceeding 80 % for two key estrogens: nonylphenol and bisphenol A. Specifically, the system achieved average removal rates of 95.32 % for nonylphenol and 92.66 % for bisphenol An under optimal conditions where the constructed wetlands were combined with O3 and fully open UV lamps. Additionally, this integrated system effectively reduced other pollutants, such as ammonia nitrogen (<1 mg/L), chemical oxygen demand (<20 mg/L), biochemical oxygen demand (<4 mg/L), total phosphorus (<0.2 mg/L), and color (less than 10° after UV/O3 treatment). The design and operation of this innovative treatment process offer a promising solution for mitigating estrogen contamination in sewage treatment plant effluent. Furthermore, the experimental data gathered provide valuable insights for potential future scaling of this technology.