Author(s): Costa, M. ; Mesquita, D. P. ; Ferreira, Eugénio C. ; Quintelas, Cristina Maria Catalão
Date: 2025
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/94991
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): Granular sludge; Pharmaceuticals; Reactors; Removal; Monitoring; Wastewater
Pharmaceuticals may end up in the environment through untreated wastewater, improper disposal of unused and expired pharmaceutical formulations, or effluents from manufacturing facilities. Many reports focusing on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the environment have been published in recent years. This environmental problem is also an issue of special concern for the European Union, which recommends the monitoring of several priority substances and highlights the need for the development of new water treatment solutions. The use of bioreactors with granular sludge is one of the most promising techniques for treating water and wastewater contaminated with pharmaceuticals. The novelty of this review is to perform a survey of the more recent knowledge regarding the use of biomass to remove pharmaceuticals and to explore new insights regarding the formation and stability maintenance of the granules. The performance of granular sludge in different types of reactors for the removal of pharmaceuticals, the parameters affecting the formation and stability of granular sludge, and the monitoring tools to follow the performance of the reactors are just a few of the topics covered. Finally, recommendations for future work were made.
