Emerging Organic Contaminants in Wastewater

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2020) | Viewed by 8027

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Stategic Water Infrastructure Lab, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Interests: membrane; biological; enzymatic and adsorption technologies for wastewater treatment/reuse; energy/resource recovery from wastewater/biosolids
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Guest Editor
Advanced Water Management Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, Australia
Interests: fate and transport of biomarkers in sewers; wastewater infrastructure management; hydrogen sulfide control in sewers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Emerging Organic Contaminants comprise a group of contaminants that pose significant environmental and public health risks but are yet to be regulated.  Many of these compounds were previously not detectable, or thought to be insignificant, but are now detected ubiquitously in wastewater. These compounds include, among others, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, steroids and hormones, and industrial chemicals. Conventional treatment technologies have proven ineffective in their removal from water and wastewater.

We invite original research, as well as review articles, that will contribute to continuing efforts to understand the major pathways of their transportation and fate in the urban water systems, implications for wastewater treatment facilities, impacts on wastewater recycling and the reuse and land application of biosolids, advanced wastewater-treatment options, and recent development of estimating chemical use/exposure with micropollutants as biomarkers.

Prof. Dr. Faisal I. Hai
Dr. Guangming Jiang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • wastewater recycling 
  • advanced treatment 
  • emerging contaminants 
  • transport and fate 
  • wastewater-based epidemiology
  • monitoring 
  • risk management
  • public health

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1358 KiB  
Article
Aerobic and Anaerobic Biological Degradation of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds in Rice Paddy Soils
by Pahaerdin Nazhakaiti, Hirofumi Tsutsui and Taro Urase
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(12), 2505; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9122505 - 19 Jun 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2868
Abstract
One of the concerns against the use of sewage sludge for agricultural purposes is emerging contaminants contained in sewage sludge. Most of the studies on biological degradation of pharmaceutically active compounds in agricultural land were carried out with water-unsaturated soils under relatively aerobic [...] Read more.
One of the concerns against the use of sewage sludge for agricultural purposes is emerging contaminants contained in sewage sludge. Most of the studies on biological degradation of pharmaceutically active compounds in agricultural land were carried out with water-unsaturated soils under relatively aerobic conditions. In this study, the degradation of pharmaceuticals mainly including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was investigated in Asian rice paddy soils that are flooded in anaerobic condition. The experimental results showed that the concentrations of the target pharmaceuticals excluding the exception of naproxen were poorly decreased in anaerobic condition. On the other hand, the microbial communities of the soils contained the aerobic degraders of clofibric acid and diclofenac, which are generally persistent in biological wastewater treatment. The higher degradation rates in aerobic condition suggest the possibility of enhanced degradation of pharmaceuticals by supplying oxygen with plowing anaerobic rice fields or with drying the field in off-season for farming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Organic Contaminants in Wastewater)
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Review

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36 pages, 1390 KiB  
Review
Removal of Organic Micro-Pollutants by Conventional Membrane Bioreactors and High-Retention Membrane Bioreactors
by Nirenkumar Pathak, Van Huy Tran, Andrea Merenda, M. A. H. Johir, Sherub Phuntsho and Hokyong Shon
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(8), 2969; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10082969 - 24 Apr 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4653
Abstract
The ubiquitous presence of organic micropollutants (OMPs) in the environment as a result of continuous discharge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) into water matrices—even at trace concentrations (ng/L)—is of great concern, both in the public and environmental health domains. This fact essentially warrants [...] Read more.
The ubiquitous presence of organic micropollutants (OMPs) in the environment as a result of continuous discharge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) into water matrices—even at trace concentrations (ng/L)—is of great concern, both in the public and environmental health domains. This fact essentially warrants developing and implementing energy-efficient, economical, sustainable and easy to handle technologies to meet stringent legislative requirements. Membrane-based processes—both stand-alone or integration of membrane processes—are an attractive option for the removal of OMPs because of their high reliability compared with conventional process, least chemical consumption and smaller footprint. This review summarizes recent research (mainly 2015–present) on the application of conventional aerobic and anaerobic membrane bioreactors used for the removal of organic micropollutants (OMP) from wastewater. Integration and hybridization of membrane processes with other physicochemical processes are becoming promising options for OMP removal. Recent studies on high retention membrane bioreactors (HRMBRs) such as osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBRs) and membrane distillation bioreactors (MDBRs) are discussed. Future prospects of membrane bioreactors (MBRs) and HRMBRs for improving OMP removal from wastewater are also proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Organic Contaminants in Wastewater)
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