Removal of typical antibiotics in the advanced treatment process of productive drinking water

This study investigated the fate of six artificial antibiotics during treatment process of an industrial-scale drinking water treatment plant in China. The results showed that all the antibiotics can be effectively removed by the advanced treatment process. The average concentrations of the six antibiotics ranged from 1 to 43 ng/L in the influent while from non-detected to 6 ng/L in the effluent. The antibiotic removal efficiencies were 91% for total antibiotics, 85% for amoxicillin, 92% for tetracycline, 86% for oxytetracycline, and approximately 100% for sulfamethoxazole, sulfamethazine, and erythromycin in the integrated water treatment process. Of all treatment units in the plant, it was found that ozonation and biological activated carbon treatment were the most effective treatment to remove antibiotics.