Enriched Co-Treatment of Pharmaceutical and Acidic Metal-Containing Wastewater with Nano Zero-Valent Iron

Among traditional hazardous waste sources, pharmaceutical-containing wastewater and acidic mine drainage need treatment to preserve the expected water supply quality. A nano zero-valent iron (nZVI)-enriched of these two streams is evaluated for simultaneous removal various heavy metal ions, organic pollutants, sulfates, efficiency system, separation reaction products in fluidized-bed reactor. The reactor packed with silica sand was inoculated sludge from an anaerobic digester, then 1–3 g/L nZVI slurry added cotreat a hospital feed acid at 5:2 v/v. biotreatment process monitored through oxidation–reduction potential (Eh) 90 days. pathway used co-precipitation, sorption, reduction. load Zn Mn approximately 198 mg Zn/g Fe 207 Mn/g Fe, correspondingly; achieving sulfate (removal 94% matter i.e., chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological (BOD), dissolved carbon (DOC), total nitrogen (TDN) reduced significantly, but ibuprofen naproxen achieved 31% 27% removal, respectively. This enriched cotreatment system exhibited high reducing condition reactor, as confirmed by Eh; hence, dosed only few times duration, demonstrating cost-effective system.