EDCs in Wastewater Effluent: Impact on Advanced Treatment Costs and Downstream Trout

Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District
Park City, Utah

Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District (SBWRD) in Park City, Utah, concerned about the impact of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in their effluent on downstream trout populations, funded a study with two main objectives. The first objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and full-scale implementation cost of three EDC treatment technologies (GAC, ozone/peroxide, and UV/peroxide). Results from pilot and bench scale testing showed that GAC and ozone/peroxide were most effective in reducing effluent EDCs. Ozone/peroxide was recommended as the most cost effective treatment technique. The second objective was to investigate the potential of the effluent to cause estrogenicity in trout. Fish held in the effluent showed a measurable increase in vitellogenin, a biomarker of environmental estrogen exposure. However, there was no evidence of an estrogenic impact on downstream fish based on results for vitellogenin and population sex ratios. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings

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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Waste Water Treatment | Tags: Environmental Impact, Human Health | No Comments »

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