Fate and Management of Emerging Contaminants (FAME)

由于持续的人口结构变化，城市化和快速工业化支持的生活方式变化，所谓的新兴污染物（EC）污染是印度，英国和全球新兴的环境和公共卫生问题。药品、个人护理产品、农药和工业化合物统称为EC。除其他影响外，它们导致水生动物和可能的人类的抗生素耐药性增加和内分泌干扰。传统的污水处理厂（WTP）在处理这些污染物方面表现不一，甚至可能在处理更传统的污染物时受到EC的不利影响。也有证据表明，WTP可以作为抗生素耐药致病菌的水库。由于数据有限，环境和污水处理中的ECs的命运仍然调查不足，限制了我们有针对性地提供具有成本效益的处理的能力。本研究旨在研究ECs的来源和命运及其在接收沃茨和WTP中的相互作用，并制定新的和可持续的管理策略，以改善水质。在该项目中，将监测两条河流：北部的亚穆纳河（污染最严重的河段，占德里供水需求的70%）和南部的考韦里河（印度最抽象的河流）。还将对印度10个WTP的废水和污泥处理线中EC的命运进行调查，并与英国选定的工厂进行比较。调查还将包括在处理和使用生物固体期间EC的命运。这项工作将有助于制定基于证据的废水排放标准和安全使用受污染污泥的指导。我们还将寻求开发新颖的，具有成本效益的和适合目的的解决方案，用于治疗城市和农村社区的EC。将研究几种方法，包括零/有限的能源消耗自然处理系统配置;和基于新一代吸附剂的开发和新应用的节省空间的系统;节能膜和无化学品处理。这项工作将有助于开发最佳处理系统的设计和操作指南，需要O&M工作人员的有限投入。最后，我们打算开发一种新的决策支持系统，自动生成和识别可持续的治疗策略，作为用户定义的约束条件和上下文的函数。这将作为一个谈判工具，以可视化不同利益相关者的目标和偏好的影响。该工具将在印度和英国的一系列最终用户中试用。

Owing to on-going demographic shifts, urbanisation and changing life styles supported by rapid industrialisation, pollution by so-called emerging contaminants (ECs) is an emerging environmental and public health concern in India, the UK and globally. Pharmaceuticals, personal-care products, pesticides & industrial compounds, are collectively known as ECs. They lead to, among other effects, increasing antibiotic resistance and endocrine disruption in aquatic animals and possibly humans. Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WTPs) have a mixed performance in dealing with such contaminants and might even be adversely affected by the ECs in treating more conventional pollutants. There is also evidence that WTPs can act as reservoirs of antibiotic resistant pathogenic bacteria. Due to limited availability of data, the fate of ECs in the environment and wastewater treatment remains under-investigated, limiting our ability to provide targeted cost effective treatment.The research aims to study the sources and fate of ECs and their interactions in receiving waters and WTPs and develop novel and sustainable management strategies to improve water quality. In the project, two rivers will be monitored: the Yamuna in the north (in the most polluted stretch, contributing to 70% of Delhi's water supply needs) & the Cauvery in the south (the most abstracted river in India). Investigations will also be made on the fate of ECs during wastewater and sludge treatment line at 10 WTPs in India and compared with selected plants in the UK. Investigations will also include, the fate of ECs during the treatment and use of bio-solids. The work will help to develop evidence based wastewater discharge standards and guidance for safe use of contaminated sludge. We will also look to develop novel, cost effective and fit for purpose solutions for the treatment of ECs in urban and rural communities. Several approaches will be investigated including zero/limited energy consuming natural treatment systems configurations; and space saving systems based on the development and novel application of a new generation of adsorbents; energy efficient membranes and chemicals free treatment. The work will help the development of design and operation guidance for optimal treatment systems requiring limited input from O&M staff. Finally, we intend to develop a novel decision support system to automatically generate and identify sustainable treatment strategies as a function of user defined constraints and contexts. This will serve as a negotiation tool to visualise the impact of different stakeholders objectives and preferences. The tool will be trialled with a range of end users in India and UK.