Urban centers are unambiguously discharging wastewater in the natural streams, lakes, ponds and for irrigation in the agricultural fields. In the early stages of human civilization, wastewater discharges did not pose problem to water bodies as the nature had the capability for degradation and restoration of the quality of water to its normal condition.The key challenges towards better managemen...

The submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) is a promising technology for wastewater treatment and water reclamation. This paper provides an overview of wastewater treatment in a submerged membrane bioreactor process with a special focus on municipal wastewater systems. SMBRs predict more than 95% organic removal with relative short hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 1-8 h and NH3 removal of more...

Results of a field study carried out at Trinitapoli (Puglia region, southern Italy) on the irrigation of an artichoke crop with three types of water (secondary-treated wastewater, SW; tertiary-treated wastewater, TW; and freshwater, FW) are reported. Physical, chemical and microbiological analyses were performed on the irrigation water, and on soil and yield samples. The levels of most of the c...

Wastewater from a pharmaceutical formulation facility (TevaKS, Israel) was treated with a biological activated-sludge system followed by ozonation. The goal was to reduce the concentrations of the drugs carbamazepine (CBZ) and venlafaxine (VLX) before discharging the wastewater to the municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Both drugs were detected at extremely high concentrations in TevaK...

Performance of a rotating biological contactor (RBC) in treating municipal wastewater from primary sedimentation basin and anaerobically treated industrial effluent from an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor was investigated. The 280-L six-stage RBC pilot was operated at different organic loading rates and biodisc speeds. The overall removal efficiencies of soluble BOD decreased wit...

Forward osmosis (FO) can be used to extract clean water and pre-concentrate municipal wastewater to make it amenable to anaerobic treatment. A protocol was developed to assess the suitability of FO draw solutes for pre-concentrating wastewater for potential integration with anaerobic treatment to facilitate resource recovery from wastewater. Draw solutes were evaluated in terms of their ability...

17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic oestrogen in oral contraceptives, is one of many pharmaceuticals found in inland waterways worldwide as a result of human consumption and excretion into wastewater treatment systems. At low parts per trillion (ppt), EE2 induces feminisation of male fish, diminishing reproductive success and causing fish population collapse. Intended water quality standard...

Water is one of the most stable and abundant complexes on nature that can be polluted with natural and human factors. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure a timely warning for possible accumulation of polluting metal in natural waters in order to protect public health. One of the economic and rapid methods for elements removal is displacement of metals by biosorption. The purpose of this study ...

Background: Although anaerobic system has been successfully used for treating the strong industrial wastewater, its efficiency for low-strength wastewater as municipal wastewater is not satisfying. This study aimed to enhance the capability of an anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) for treating municipal wastewater. Methods: A 7-L ABR with 5 compartments was operated for a 287-day period fed with ...

Phosphorus (P) is one of the primary nutrients generating eutrophication in aquatic systems1. To prevent eutrophication, municipal or agricultural wastewaters are treated to reduce the phosphorus concentrations in the wastewater reaching surface water streams. While unregulated P is a pollutant in a water body, phosphorous is a useful resource in agricultural fertilizers, food supply, and indus...