Tokyo Metropolitan University constructed an advanced wastewater treatment facility when the university moved to its present location in 1991. To better serve the university, wastewater from experiments conducted by research laboratories was processed and recycled for flushwater. At the time, water quality guidelines for processed wastewater set by the university were more stringent than regulations established under the sewerage law. However, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) were added to the sewerage law in 1994. As a result, it was necessary to revise the university's water quality guidelines and a directive was issued to collect VOCs directly from the research laboratories. Despite directly collecting VOCs, low levels of VOCs were still present in the wastewater and continued to flow into the wastewater treatment facility. Moreover, the past policy of annually replacing the activated carbon was not revised, creating a situation where VOC contaminant levels gradually rose until they exceeded the university's water quality guidelines.
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