Treatment of Drinking Water Using Polymeric Sorbents

Abstract

Ongoing research suggests that the occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in the environment has become a growing concern. Without a sufficient method of removing pharmaceutical compounds, there has been an increase in levels of antibiotics within our water systems. Research suggests that an accumulating level of antibiotics from human and animal wastes is widespread. Toxicity levels remain largely unknown but a cost effective treatment method must be developed should the pharmaceutical compounds prove to be hazardous. Our goal is to address this problem by using polymer sorbents that can cost effectively remove antibiotics from drinking water. Polymeric adsorbents work by adsorbing hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules such as antibiotics from water using a high surface area with both continuous pore and polymer phases. Column experiments will be carried out to test the efficiency of the selected polymeric sorbents towards the removal of antibodies present in the water. The size, flow rate, capacity, and regeneration of the column will be designed to be cost effective while removing the maximum amount of potentially hazardous antibiotics. The final result is a small-scale model that can be scaled up for full-size drinking water treatment operations.