Emerging micropollutants (EMs), including pharmaceuticals compounds, personal care products, and metals, have been continuously released into aquatic systems due to their lack of an efficient removal from the effluents in conventional wastewater treatment plants. Subsequently, these EMs require advanced treatment, e.g., sorption to decrease their harmful effects on human health and the environment. This study investigated an efficiency of filtration/adsorption process using biochar from in situ produced biosolids and industrial waste. Formulation of biochar and optimum operation conditions for scaling up the filtration system was determined by setting a prototype in lab scale. Adsorptive material preparation was optimized, and a fixed-bed column was designed to verify the performance of prepared adsorptive material under continuous flow filtration conditions. Then, the removal of micro and micropollutants was investigated. The designed biochar used for filtration/adsorption unit successfully removed 79.63% of SMX as a ubiquitous pharmaceutical compound in an aquatic system. Furthermore, metals such as Mn, Pb, and Zn were removed by 80.5, 50.2, 48.1%, respectively. Moreover, Bromide, Magnesium, Ammonia, Calcium, Nitrate, Chloride, Sulfate, Phosphate, Nitrite, Sodium was eliminated by 68.5, 42.9, 21.4, 18.9, 17.42, 15.53, 14.23, 12.5, 12.41, and 11.9%. The paper also provide scale up parameters, making the proposed system ready to be adapted to wastewater treatment plant.
