PROCESS AND PLANT FOR TREATING WASTEWATER CONTAINING MICROPOLLUTANTS OF PHARMACEUTICAL ORIGIN
A completely biological process for eliminating a first group of micropolluants of pharmaceutical origin and a second group of micropolluants of pharmaceutical origin in wastewater and plant for the implementation of the process, the process comprising the steps of: - in a first treatment, introducing the wastewater (1), once screened, into the moving-bed membrane bioreactor (MB-MBR) (11) populated by first microbial consortium for a first retention time; - in a second treatment, introducing the wastewater (1) treated by the bioreactor (11) into the biofiltration tank (12), different from the tank of the bioreactor, comprising one or more biologically activated carbon (BAC) columns and leaving the residues of micropolluants of pharmaceutical origin to be absorbed on the active carbon; - leaving the active carbon that has previously absorbed the residues of micropolluants of pharmaceutical origin to be colonized by the second microbial consortium in the form of biofilms for a second retention time; the total hydraulic retention time, consisting of the sum of the first retention time and the second retention time, being determined in order to obtain an average purifying efficiency (R) for the micropolluants of pharmaceutical origin of the first group in the treated wastewater (2) of greater than 80%, preferably of greater than 95%, and an average purifying efficiency for the micropolluants of pharmaceutical origin of the second group of greater than 40-50%, with reference to the content (Co) thereof in the initial wastewater (1).