Removal of ibuprofen, ketoprofen, COD and nitrogen compounds from pharmaceutical wastewater using aerobic suspension-sequencing batch reactor (ASSBR)

This study was performed to remove emerging contaminants ibuprofen (IBU) and ketoprofen (KETO), COD and nitrogen compounds from pharmaceutical wastewater. The ASSBR was operated under a constant aeration rate at 1.0 L/min, 24 h HRT and various loadings of IBU (1.71–5.1 mg/m³ day), KETO (0.39–2.1 mg/m³ day), COD (1.2–10 kg/m³ day) and ammonia (NH₃–N: 4.3–6.3 g/m³ day). The results showed that IBU, KETO, COD, NH₃–N and nitrate (NO₃–N) were efficiently removed in the range of 63–90%, 13–92%, 88.7–89.3%, 77.2–96%, 35.7–92.5%, respectively. Isolation and screening of effective microbes found three isolates identified as Bacillus pseudomycoides, Rhodococcus ruber and Vibrio mediterranei, which had a higher toxicity resistance towards IBU and KETO. Thus, the pharmaceutical wastewater especially IBU and KETO could be biologically removed with the presents of valuable effective microbes in the ASSBR system.