Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation of Microconstituents Removal Technologies for Water Reuse Projects

Microconstituents are a diverse group of relatively unmonitored and unregulated chemicals
found in consumer and industrial products that have been shown to occur at trace levels in
wastewater discharges, ambient receiving waters, and drinking water supplies. Total Organic
Carbon (TOC) is one surrogate that can be used for the organic microconstituent compounds.
The main objective of this study is to investigate the cost-effectiveness of available TOC
removal technologies for small, privately-owned wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The
reliabilities of each treatment process are also evaluated by comparison of their ability to comply
with regulatory effluent limits. Life-cycle cost analyses over a 20-year planning period were
performed to account for capital cost and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs at varying
flow rates.