Impact of maintenance on domestic wastewater treatment systems

Abstract

Wastewater treatment systems are important sources of contaminants of emerging substances, including pharmaceuticals, and personal care products. Onsite wastewater treatment systems provide alternative solutions to centralized systems, although they are becoming increasingly popular, little is known about the effect of maintenance on their performance. In the current study, chemical and microbiological parameters in the effluents from two identical on-site wastewater treatment systems were analyzed, one being properly maintained while the other not maintained at all. Taxonomic profiles vastly differed from each other, and organic micropollutants are present at higher concentrations in the effluent of the non-maintained unit. The results highlight the importance of proper maintenance.