Evolving Takagi-Sugeno (eTS) fuzzy models are used to build a computational model for the WasteWater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in a paper mill. The fuzzy rule base is constructed on-line from data using a recursive fuzzy clustering algorithm that develops the model structure and parameters. In order to avoid some redundancy in the fuzzy rule base mechanisms for merging membership functions and sim...

Abstract Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are required to meet increasingly stringent effluent quality standards as well improve process sustainability in terms of energy efficiency, line with the call for a paradigm shift towards more sustainable concept wastewater resource recovery facility (WRRF). In this context, optimised Instrumentation, Control and Automation (ICA) systems plant-wide m...

In urban areas wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent can represent a significant component of freshwater ecosystems, and WWTP effluent can be a point source for a variety of pollutants, including pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). We analyzed two field sites in the Chicago region: (1) an urban river receiving effluent from a large WWTP; and (2) a suburban river receiving e...

In vitro assays are broadly used tools to evaluate the estrogenic activity in Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) effluents and their receiving rivers. Since potencies of individual estrogens to induce in vitro and in vivo responses can differ it is not possible to directly evaluate risks based on in vitro measures of estrogenic activity. Estrone, 17beta-estradiol, 17alfa-ethinylestradiol and to...

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa-containing wastewater released by hospitals is treated by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), generating sludge, which is used as a fertilizer, and effluent, which is discharged into rivers. We evaluated the risk of dissemination of antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa (AR-PA) from the hospital to the environment via the wastewater network. Over a 10-week period, we sa...

BACKGROUND Antimicrobial resistance in microorganisms are on the increase worldwide and are responsible for substantial cases of therapeutic failures. Resistance of species of Enterococcus to antibiotics is linked to their ability to acquire and disseminate antimicrobial resistance determinants in nature, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered to be one of the main reservoirs of...

Nowadays, there are increasingly stringent regulations requiring more and more treatment of industrial effluents to generate product waters which could be easily reused or disposed of to the environment without any harmful effects. Therefore, different advanced oxidation processes were investigated as suitable precursors for the biological treatment of industrial effluents containing phenol. We...

Biodiversities can differ substantially among different wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) communities. Whether differences in biodiversity translate into differences in the provision of particular ecosystem services, however, is under active debate. Theoretical considerations predict that WWTP communities with more biodiversity are more likely to contain strains that have positive effects on th...

In the early 2000s, most of the effluents from the Paris agglomeration (12 million inhabitants) were still discharged after only a standard activated sludge treatment of carbon, thus releasing a high ammonium load. This triggered the growth of nitrifying bacteria in the river and caused a deficit of dissolved oxygen concentration 200 km downstream, at the entrance of the estuarine area. From 20...

The direct release of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is important because it contributes to the global greenhouse gases (GHGs) release and strongly effects the WWTP carbon footprint. Biological nitrogen removal technologies could increase the direct emission of N2O (IPCC, 2006), while CH4 losses are of environmental, economic and safety concern. Cu...