- Thesis topic: Microplastic Presence and Removal Efficiency in Taiwan's Domestic Wastewater Treatment Plants: Current Status and Future Perspectives

- ORCID or ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fahir-Hassan; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2307-4251 

- Abstract: 

        The large production and use of plastic materials in various sectors ranging from industry, equipment, daily necessities, clothes to personal care products has made small plastic called microplastic. Waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) have proven to be one of the point sources that need to be controlled. The purpose of this study is to investigate microplastics in six domestic WWTPs located in the north and south of Taiwan. Sampling was carried out using grab sampling and onsite filtration methods. The samples pretreated then analyzed by visualization using a microscope to identify the amount of microplastic, shape, and color. Characterization was performed using Micro-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (Micro-FTIR) to determine the proportion of polymer types. From the results of this study, it can be seen that the influent of WWTPs in Taiwan is in the range of 17.6 n/L to 136 n/L and for effluent it ranged from 1.55 n/L to 8.56 n/L. The presence of fiber is the main dominant contaminant that must be considered. The abundance of microplastics in WWTPs in Taiwan is strongly influenced by temperature, especially in winter (r = -0.96, p < 0.01). From the characterization results using micro FTIR, it was found that rayon and polystyrene are the most dominant polymers. Identification is also carried out to determine the primary process and the secondary process that has the optimal ability to remove microplastics. The vortex grit chamber and primary sedimentation showed removal of up to 17.23-70.07% and for the aerated sedimentation tank the removal was between 30.40-45.30%. for the secondary process, A2O and MBR showed stable removal performance results in two seasons and contributed very high up to 72%. Base on this research, it can be known that the current microplastic removal rate ranges from 87.94% to 98.08%. Although the removal results are quite high, fiber-shaped microplastics with rayon and polystyrene polymers are the most difficult types to remove.

Keywords: Microplastic, Wastewater Treatment Plant, Removal Rate