Winery wastewater (WWW) handling strategies often include co-treatment at municipal treatment plants (WWTPs). Despite this, definitive information regarding oxidation kinetics and process performance impacts due to is lacking. A combined Michaelis–Menten–University of Cape Town kinetic model has been found best describe the pH-inhibited aerobic biological WWW by heterotrophs in activated sludge...

Municipal wastewaters are contaminated by a wide range of chemicals, from surfactants to heavy metals, including pharmaceutical residues, personal care products, various household chemicals, and biocides/pesticides. Their release into the environment, where they may generate adverse effects on aquatic organisms, depends on their fate in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The sources, the typi...

Nitrification is known as one of the most sensitive processes affected when activated sludge is exposed to antimicrobial silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The impact of AgNPs and their released silver ions (Ag(+) ) on the abundance, activity, and diversity of different nitrifying bacteria in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), however, is poorly understood. The present study investigated the impac...

AIMS To investigate whether two different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) -- treating the same pharmaceutical influent -- select for a different bacterial and/or ammonia oxidizing bacterial (AOB) community. METHODS AND RESULTS Molecular fingerprinting demonstrated that each WWTP had its own total bacterial and AOB community structure, but Nitrosomonas eutropha and N. europea were dominant...

Residual chlorine loss due to UV sunlight in the chlorine disinfection contact basins (DCBs) was investigated at two full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Chlorine decay due to solar UV-induced photochemical reaction was found to be significant and had diurnal and seasonal variations. The total chlorine loss due to sunlight ranged from 19 to 26% of the total chlorine chemical use at t...

[1] Riverine exports of carbon (C) and organic matter (OM) are regulated by a variety of natural and anthropogenic factors. Understanding the relationships between these various factors and C and OM exports can help to constrain global C budgets and allow assessment of current and future anthropogenic impacts on both riverine and global C cycles. We quantified the effects of multiple natural an...

Effects of representative mid-Michigan (USA) wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents on the reproductive physiology of common goldfish (Carassius auratus) were assessed in situ by measuring plasma concentrations of vitellogenin (VTG), 17 beta-estradiol (E2), and testosterone (T), and evaluating gonad histology. Caged adult male and female goldfish were exposed for six weeks to WWTP effluent...

Plasmids operate as independent genetic elements in microorganism communities. Through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), they can provide their host microorganisms with important functions such as antibiotic resistance and heavy metal resistance. In this study, six metagenomic libraries were constructed with plasmid DNA extracted from influent, activated sludge (AS) and digested sludge (DS) of tw...

A systematic approach for fine-tuning fuzzy controllers has been developed and evaluated for an aeration control system implemented in a WWTP. The challenge with the application of fuzzy controllers to WWTPs is simply that they contain many parameters, which need to be adjusted for different WWTP applications. To this end, a methodology based on model simulations is used that employs three stat...

Biosolids from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have a high content of nutrients and organic matter and are used as a land fertilizer constituent. However, biosolids can contain many toxic chemicals, including heavy metals and synthetic organic chemicals. Thus, land application of biosolids may introduce these toxicants to water resources through runoff or soil leachate. The objective of thi...