Treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater through activated sludge process-a critical review

The occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in water is a rising issue in the environment. These drugs in the waste may be toxic to aquatic organisms and humans as they disrupt the endocrine system, cause genotoxicity, etc. Several techniques were used for the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater, such as physical, chemical, physiochemical, and biological processes like adsorption, chemical coagulation, and activated sludge processes, but these techniques possess several merits and demerits, such as higher installation and operation costs. This technique is used to remove color and turbidity; reduce biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total suspended solids (TSS) to permissible limits for reuse of effluent; and prevent diseases caused by pharmaceutical wastewater. This review focuses on the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater containing drugs like antibiotics, depressants, and hormones, with the activated sludge process having several advantages like good quality effluent and low installation costs.