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Chapter 12 Water quality analysis: Detection, fate, and behaviour, of selected trace organic pollutants at managed aquifer recharge sites Mathias Ernst, Arne Hein, Josef Asmin, Martin Krauss, Guido Fink, Juliane Hollender, Thomas Ternes, Claus Jørgensen, Martin Jekel and Christa S. McArdell 12.1 INTRODUCTION In treated municipal wastewater, residual organic compounds are of high relevance especially if water recycling and potable water reuse is envisaged. After biological treatment, such as the activated sludge process, some organic compounds remain that are either non-biodegradable, or are minimally biodegradable. If these chemicals are polar, they are commonly poorly absorbable, and are therefore identified as persistent polar organic compounds (also persistent polar pollutants, PPPs). In the last decade, there have been important analytical improvements in detecting trace levels of pollutants, and within the water reuse community, new “hazardous” compounds are frequently discussed. This includes consideration of which organic residuals are really of health concern, which transformation products can be generated, and what is their human and environmental impact? Within the present chapter relevant PPPs and their fate during (advanced) wastewater treatment and managed aquifer recharge are identified and discussed as results of measuring campaigns at technologically different demonstration sites within the European research project RECLAIM WATER. Such PPPs mainly belong in the group of pharmaceuticals but also industrial chemicals. Here antibiotics such as the macrolides and sulfonamides are of particular concern, because of the eco-toxicological potential of these parent micropollutants, and the potential threat posed by the build-up of antibiotic resistance genes. In addition to known multi-resistant bacteria such as Staphylococci, multi-resistant genes have recently been identified in the intestinal bacteria Citrobacter, Enterobacteriaceae and Escherichia coli (Patoli et al.
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