Removal of pharmaceutical compounds from municipal wastewater through chemically enhanced primary treatment

The presence of pharmaceutical compounds of therapeutic groups antiepileptics, hypolipemic agents, antiinflammatory analgesic and tranquilizers were evaluated in three samplings campaigns, besides, the removal efficiency chemically enhanced primary treatment with coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation processes in the wastewater treatment plant of Cali city (Colombia) was estimated. 10 compounds were above the limit of quantitation of analytical technique used: calbamazepine, 10,11-dihydro-10,11-dihydroxycarbamazepine (CBZ-Diol), gabapentin, fenofibric acid, gemfibrozil, diclofenac, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen, and paracetamol, in concentrations from affluent between 0.15 and 10 mu gL(-1). After the treatment, the majority of compounds had removal efficiency lower than 30%, while the paracetamol and naproxen had the highest removal of 98.1% and 57.1%, respectively. These removal efficiencies could linked not only with the coagulation-flocculation process, which is fair for lipophilic substances, but also with the biodegradation action of bacterial present in the wastewater.