Pharmaceuticals removal in an on-farm pig slurry treatment plant based on solid-liquid separation and nitrification-denitrification systems

The fate and degradation of 28 multiple-class veterinary pharmaceuticals in an on-farm pig slurry treatment plant based on solid-liquid separation and a nitrification-denitrification (NDN) sequence batch reactor (SBR) were evaluated for the first time. The pharmaceuticals detected at the highest concentrations in raw pig slurries belonged to the group of tetracycline antibiotics. Fluoroquinolone, lincosamide and pleuromutilin antibiotics and other drugs such as flubendazole and flunixin were also frequently detected. After solid-liquid separation, target compounds were distributed in an average of 64% onto the liquid fraction. Pharmaceuticals distributed in this fraction were removed in an average of almost 50% after being treated in NDN-SBR. Lincomycin was the compound with the highest removal percentage, reaching 100% reduction, while tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones showed moderate removal percentages (50 and 40%, respectively). Regarding nitrogen removal, NDN-SBR reduced a 77% of the content of this nutrient in the liquid slurry fraction.