A pilot study on the assessment of trace organic contaminants including pharmaceuticals and personal care products from on-site wastewater treatment systems along Skaneateles Lake in New York State, USA
Abstract
On-site wastewater treatment systems (OWTSs or septic systems) are designed to treat and dispose effluents on the same property that produces the wastewater. Approximately 25% of the U.S. population is served by such facilities. Nevertheless, studies on the treatment efficiency and discharge of organic contaminants through septic effluents are lacking. This pilot study showed the occurrence of organic contaminants including pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), perfluoroalkyl surfactants (PFASs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in septic effluents, adjacent lake water samples, household drinking water in homes that use lake water or a well adjacent to the lake as a source of drinking water, and offshore lake water samples. Septic effluent as well as lake and tap water samples were collected from several households with OWTSs around Skaneateles Lake located in central New York. The advanced on-site systems were installed in some households for the purpose of limiting nutrient levels in the effluent to protect the local surface water. Additionally, because many of these systems serve homes with limited land, advanced treatment systems were needed. The median concentrations of ten PPCPs (ranged from 0.45 to 388 ng/L) and eleven PFASs (ranged from 0.20 to 14.6 ng/L) in septic water were significantly higher (p ≤ 0.01) than in lake water samples. The median concentrations of PPCPs and PFASs in lake and tap water samples were not significantly different (p ≥ 0.65). The median concentrations of ∑PBDEs in septic, lake, and tap water samples were 7.47, 3.49, and 2.22 ng/L, respectively, and those for ∑PCBs were 33.1, 29.2, and 28.6 ng/L, respectively. The mass flux of PPCPs (i.e. the mass flow of PPCPs per unit area per unit time) through the disposal of treated septic effluent from textile biofilter and aerobic treatments to the dispersal unit ranged from 12 (carbamazepine) to 66900 μg/m(2)/day (caffeine) whereas that for PFASs ranged from 7.0 (perfluorobutanesulfonate) to 833 μg/m(2)/day (perfluorooctanoic acid). Based on the ratio of measured concentrations and method detection limit, triclocarban, perfluorooctanoic acid, and perfluorooctanesulfonate have the potential to be used as chemical tracers of septic water contamination in Skaneateles Lake. The median concentrations of atenolol, a beta-blocker drug, in septic water were significantly (ρ = 0.86, p = 0.01) correlated with enterococci counts.
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The PFHxS concentration in well W09 (47 ng/L) was higher than the maximum concentrations reported in effluent from 23 US wastewater treatment plants (24 ng/L) and four septic systems (2.5 ng/L).
“Furthermore, the PFHxS concentration in well W09 (47 ng/L) was higher than the maximum concentrations reported in effluent from 23 US wastewater treatment plants (24 ng/L; Schultz et al., 2006a;Schultz et al., 2006b;Sinclair and Kannan, 2006;Loganathan et al., 2007;Plumlee et al., 2008) and four septic systems (2.5 ng/L; Subedi et al., 2015).”
From Septic systems as sources of organic wastewater compounds in domestic drinking water wells in a shallow sand and gravel aquifer (2016) · cites this paper as Subedi et al., 2015
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- Authors
- Subedi, B., Codru, N., Dziewulski, D. M., Wilson, L. R., Xue, J., Yun, S., Braun-Howland, E., Minihane, C., & Kannan, K.
- Affiliations
- New York State Department of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kannan, Kurunthachalam
- Venue
- Water Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-04
- Volume
- 72
- Pages
- 28-39
- ISSN
- 0043-1354 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2081228042
- Cited by
- 119
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 10 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 4.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Water Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Environmental Health Specialist Network (EHS-Net) (5UE2EH000701)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Keywords
- septic systems, on-site wastewater treatment, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyls, lake pollution, drinking water quality, mass flux, aerobic treatment
- MeSH terms
- Pharmaceutical Preparations, Household Products, New York, Organic Chemicals, Pilot Projects, Water Purification, Lakes, Wastewater
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