Index Terms—Activated sludge, competitive inhibition,
phenol, wastewater treatment.
I. INTRODUCTION
Phenolic compounds are one of the main components of
anti-pruritic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and blemish
removal pharmaceuticals. A large amount of utilized
phenolic compound caused phenol contamination in
environment including municipal and industrial wastewater
treatment systems [1]-[3]. The contamination from
pharmaceutical uses and pharmaceutical production could be
up to milligram per liter level [1], [4]. Although the
wastewater treatment systems could be able to remove
phenolic compounds, these toxic compounds at high
concentrations significantly inhibited the wastewater
treatment performance [2], [3]. In the case of inhibition, the
phenolic based pharmaceuticals are likely to enter to the
municipal wastewater treatment systems occasionally