Removal of levosulpiride from pharmaceutical wastewater using an advanced integrated treatment strategy comprising physical, chemical, and biological treatment

In recent times the impact of pharmaceutical wastes generated from the pharmaceutical industry and domestic sewages on the aquatic ecosystem has become a major concern. The traditional sole treatment processes are not adequate for the elimination of these wastes. To overcome the lack of the individual treatment processes, integrated treatment methodology has been devised in the present study. The degradation of the pharmaceutical, levosulpiride, by using Ozone (O3), activated carbon (AC) and biological treatment by A.faecalis JF339228 and E. aurantiacum KX008295.1in its aqueous solution has been investigated. The percentage removal of Levosulpiride from its synthetic aqueous solution of 600 mg/L concentration using 2 g/L activated carbon and 5.2 g/h ozone and biological treatment by A.faecalis JF339228 and E. aurantiacum KX008295.1 in 72 hr were 51.60, 53.50, 39.97, and 37.51% respectively. Simultaneous treatment using adsorption and ozone followed by biological treatment with A. faecalis JF339228 and E. aurantiacum KX008295.1 has been employed in this study. To overcome the demerits of the individual treatment process, the integrated treatment is employed which has shown a synergistic effect in the degradation of levosulpiride with minimal doses of activated carbon, ozone, and minimum time of operation. The percentage removal of levosulpiride achieved was about 76 and 61% for 800 mg/L levosulpiride wastewater, respectively. Therefore, the integrated treatment system is rendered economical, efficient, and safe.