Pharmaceuticals in wastewater and their treatment in Valencia,

Abstract

A survey on the presence of pharmaceuticals in urban wastewater of a Spanish
Mediterranean area (Castellon province) was carried out. The scope of the study included a
wide variety of pharmaceuticals belonging to different therapeutical classes. For this purpose,
112 samples, including influent and effluent wastewater, from different conventional wastewater
treatment plants were collected. Similar median concentrations were found over the year and
seasonal variation was not clearly observed. The removal efficiency of pharmaceuticals in the
wastewater treatment plants was roughly evaluated. Our results indicated that elimination of
most of the selected compounds occurred during the treatment process of influent wastewater,
although it was incomplete