Microplastics (MPs) are emerging pollutants detected everywhere in the environment, with the potential to harm living organisms. The present study investigated the concentration, morphology, and composition of MPs, between 20 μm and 5 mm, in a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) located close to Barcelona (Catalonia, NE Spain). The sampling included different units of the DWTP, from influent to effluent as well as sludge line. Sampling strategy, filtration, allows sampling of large volumes of water avoiding sample contamination, and during 8 h in order to increase the representativeness of MPs collected. The pre-treatment of the samples consisted of advanced oxidation with Fenton's reagent and hydrogen peroxide, followed by density separation of the particles with zinc chloride solution. Visual identification was performed with an optical and stereoscopic microscope with final Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) confirmation. MPs were found in all DWTP samples, with concentrations from 4.23 ± 1.26 MPs/L to 0.075 ± 0.019 MPs/L in the influent and effluent of the plant, respectively. The overall removal efficiency of the plant was 98.3%. The most dominant morphology was fibers followed by fragments and films. Twenty-two different polymer types were identified and synthetic cellulose, polyester, polyamide, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyurethane, and polyacrylonitrile were the most common. Although MPs could be incorporated from the distribution network, MPs intake from drinking water from this DWTP was not an important route compared to fish and seafood ingestion.

微塑料 (MPs) 是在环境中随处可见的新兴污染物，有可能危害生物体。本研究调查了位于巴塞罗那（西班牙东北部加泰罗尼亚）附近的饮用水处理厂 (DWTP) 中 20 μm 至 5 mm 的 MPs 的浓度、形态和组成。采样包括 DWTP 的不同单元，从进水到出水以及污泥管线。采样策略，过滤，允许在 8 小时内对大量水进行采样，避免样品污染，以增加收集的 MPs 的代表性。样品的预处理包括用芬顿试剂和过氧化氢进行高级氧化，然后用氯化锌溶液对颗粒进行密度分离。用光学和立体显微镜进行视觉识别，最终傅里叶变换红外光谱 (FTIR) 确认。在所有 DWTP 样品中都发现了 MPs，工厂进水和出水的浓度分别为 4.23 ± 1.26 MPs/L 到 0.075 ± 0.019 MPs/L。该装置的整体去除效率为98.3%。最主要的形态是纤维，其次是碎片和薄膜。确定了 22 种不同的聚合物类型，合成纤维素、聚酯、聚酰胺、聚丙烯、聚乙烯、聚氨酯和聚丙烯腈是最常见的。虽然 MPs 可以从分销网络中纳入，但与鱼类和海鲜摄入相比，从 DWTP 的饮用水中摄入 MPs 并不是一个重要的途径。