Today, pharmaceutical residues are widely found in nature as a cause of the extensive use of human and veterinary medicine. The pharmaceutical residues have shown to have a damaging impact on flora and fauna. Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs), today, are not designed for pharmaceutical removal, which calls for new methods and the implementation of these to avoid increased concentrations of pharmaceutical residues in nature. This thesis addresses three main areas. Firstly, a pre-study regarding the prevalence of pharmaceutical residues at different parts of a WWTP and in the nearby river, secondly, an evaluation of removal of pharmaceutical residues using ozone and, thirdly, the construction of a pilot plant scale Activated Carbon (AC) unit and an evaluation of its capacity for pharmaceutical and ozone removal. This work was done in order to verify the quality of a future full-scale unit including the advanced techniques ozone and AC that will be implemented at a WWTP for pharmaceutical removal. The pre-study shows that the total concentration of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) was largest at the inlet (93.8 mg/L) and decreased throughout the process steps to be the lowest at the outlet (5.6 mg/L). Paracetamol was found in the highest concentration (86.5 mg/L) at the inlet but could not be detected in the outlet. In the recipient none of the APIs could be found. However, caffeine was detected in the recipient. The pilot plant studies were performed in a batch process, one at high ozone generation and one at low ozone generation. The pilot test at high ozone generation showed that all of the measured APIs were below their Limit of Quantification (LOQ) after 2 minutes. The pilot test at low ozone generation showed a total API-removal of 44% after 7 minutes, 78% after 13 minutes, 97% after 20 minutes and more than 99% after 60 minutes. All of the APIs were below their LOQ after 180 min. The AC-filter construction mirrored the conditions within a full-scale unit as closely as possible and was scaled by the superficial velocity. The AC-filter showed an ozone removal of approximately 99% and removed all pharmaceutical residues apart from Ranitidine which was decreased by 76%. / Idag återfinns läkemedelsrester i stor utsträckning i naturen, vilket är ett resultat av den omfattande användningen av human- och veterinärmediciner. Läkemedelsresterna har visat sig ha en skadlig effekt på flora och fauna. Dagens avloppsreningsverk är inte byggda för att rena vattnet från läkemedelsrester, vilket kräver att nya metoder utvecklas och implementeras för att förebygga spridning av läkemedel. Denna avhandling redogör för tre huvudområden, inledningsvis en förstudie om förekomsten av läkemedelsrester i olika delar av ett vattenreningsverk samt i en närliggande å. Därefter en studie av ozons förmåga att eliminera läkemedelsrester och slutligen konstruktion av ett aktivt kolfilter och en utvärdering av dess förmåga att ta bort läkemedel. Detta gjordes med syftet att verifiera kvalitén hos en fullskalig anläggning som kommer att installeras på ett vattenreningsverket där ozon och aktivt kol kommer användas för borttagning av läkemedelsrester. Förstudien visar att totalkoncentrationen av de aktiva läkemedelssubstanserna (API:er) var som störst vid inloppet av reningsverket (93.8 μg/L) och koncentrationen minskade genom de olika processtegen och var som lägst i utloppet (5.6 μg/L). Paracetamol återfanns i den högsta koncentrationen i inloppet (86.5 μg/L), men kunde inte detekteras i utloppet. Ingen av API:erna återfanns i recipienten, men däremot detekterades koffein. Pilotanläggningsstudierna genomfördes i en batch och genomfördes med högozongenerering och med låg ozongenerering. Studien med hög ozongenerering visade att alla läkemedelsrester var under analysmetodens detektionsgräns efter 2 minuter. Pilotstudien med låg ozonegenerering visade att den totala läkemedelsborttagningen var 44 % efter 7 minuter, 78 % efter 13 minuter, 97 % efter 20 minuter och mer än 99 % efter 60 minuter. Alla läkemedelsrester var under analysmetodens detektionsgräns efter 180 min. Kolfiltret konstruerades för att efterlikna det fullskaliga filtret så mycket som möjligt och skalades således efter den hypotetiska tomma bäddhastigheten. Kolfiltret tog bort cirka 99 % av ozonet och alla läkemedelsrester utom Ranitidin som reducerades med 76 %.

Per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) are used in many areas of application due to their many beneficial properties such as heat resistance. insulator and water- and oil repellent. PFAS containing products can often be found in landfills and their leachate. This study compares the two common treatment techniques granulated activated carbon (GAC) and anion exchange (AIX) for treating groundwater at a landfill site. The removal efficiencies of the PFAS found at the site were determined for both methods as well as the cost of treatment for removal efficiencies at 99, 95, 90, 85, 80 and 50 % for one cubic metre of groundwater. Twenty different PFAS were found and the removal efficiency of ∑PFAS ranged between 4 – 90 % for two stage GAC and 30 – 100% for AIX. Within the groups perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid (PFCA) and perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA), both methods were most efficient in removing long chains. PFSA generally had a higher removal efficiency than PFCA. The cost of removing PFAS was related to the removal efficiency. Since AIX had a higher removal efficiency the cost became lower, despite the filter media costing nearly seven times more than GAC’s. The costs of removing PFCA and PFSA were 3.1 – 32 and 2.3 – 6.5 euros/m3 groundwater for removal of 50 – 99% using AIX. For GAC, the cost could not be calculated for 99 % removal since the removal efficiencies were too low for the Lin and Huang adsorption model to work. For 50 – 95% removal the costs for PFCA and PFSA were 2.9 – 23.1 and 2.8 – 6.9 euros/m3 groundwater.