Microplastic removal across ten drinking water treatment facilities and distribution systems.

ABSTRACT: The performance of conventional and advanced drinking water treatment processes for the removal of microplastics is poorly understood due to the use of a wide range of methods for sample collection, isolation, and analysis that make direct comparison among studies challenging. In this study, microplastic (>2 µm) removal across ten drinking water treatment facilities, as well as their presence in source waters and distribution systems, was characterized. Municipal drinking water treatment facilities achieved >97.5% removal, primarily due to chemically assisted granular media filtration or ultrafiltration. In untreated source waters, concentrations ranged from 1193 ± 64 to 7185 ± 64 particles/L, with polypropylene, polyethylene, polyamide, and plastic copolymers representing the most common

SUBMITTER: Balkenbusch C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12673860 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature