Chae, Sung Ho Lim, Seung Ji Seid, Mingizem Gashaw Ejerssa, Wondesen Workneh Son, Aseom Son, Heejong Choi, Sangki Lee, Woongbae Lee, Yunho Hong, Seok Won 2024-01-19T08:31:41Z 2024-01-19T08:31:41Z 2023-11-01 2023-10 0043-1354 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/113191 This study aimed to implement an extensive prediction model for the fate of micropollutants (MPs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Five WWTPs equipped with seven different biological treatment processes were monitored from 2020 to 2022 with three to four sampling events in each year, and 27 datasets for 20 MPs were collected. Among these datasets, 12 were used to investigate the behavior and fate of MPs in WWTPs in South Korea. Metformin, acetaminophen, caffeine, naproxen, and ibuprofen were the MPs with the highest influent concentrations (ranging from 3,933.3-187,637.0 ng L-1) at all WWTPs. More than 90% of MPs were removed by biological treatment processes in all WWTPs. The Kruskal-Wallis test verified that their efficacy did not differ statistically (p-value > 0.05). Meanwhile, to refine the performance of the prediction model, this study optimized the biodegradation rate constants (ko) of each MP according to the variation of seasonal water temperature. As a result, compared to the original prediction model, the mean difference between the actual data and predicted results (MEAN) decreased by 6.77%, while the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) increased by 0.226. The final MEAN and NSE for the refined prediction model were calculated to be 5.09% and 0.964, respectively. The prediction model made accurate predictions, even for MPs exhibiting behaviors different from other cases, such as estriol and atrazine. Consequently, the optimization strategy proposed in this study was determined to be effective because the overall removal efficiencies of MPs were successfully predicted even with limited reference datasets. English Elsevier BV Predicting micropollutant fate during wastewater treatment using refined classical kinetic model based on quantitative monitoring in multi-metropolitan regions of South Korea Article 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120627 1 Water Research, v.245 Water Research 245 Y scie scopus 001083697500001 2-s2.0-85171458481 Engineering, Environmental Environmental Sciences Water Resources Engineering Environmental Sciences & Ecology Water Resources Article TREATMENT PLANTS ORGANIC MICROPOLLUTANTS SURFACE-WATER REMOVAL PHARMACEUTICALS ESTROGENS BIOTRANSFORMATION CONTAMINANTS EFFLUENTS BEHAVIOR Biodegradation rate constant Biological treatment Classical kinetic model Emerging contaminants Parameter optimization