Microbiological Wastewater Treatment

Dear Colleagues,

Wastewater treatment is vital to protect human health and the environment. Biological processes are necessary for the treatment of non-settleable solids and BOD and for nitrification reactions. However, additional demands are increasingly being placed on biological treatment processes to remove nutrients from wastewater and achieve higher environmental standards of treatment. Biological wastewater treatment also produces a residual sludge, which requires treatment and appropriate management. The current biological treatment technologies are based on engineering principles involving suspended or attached growth bioreactors that were developed over 100 years ago. These processes have served society well; however, their microbiology remains relatively poorly understood, and more innovative strategies, technologies, and bioengineering are also required to meet future regulatory policies, service efficiency, value recovery, and consumers’ expectations. For instance, innovation is necessary to design more energy-efficient processes, increase treatment intensification to reduce the footprint of wastewater treatment plants, and utilise wastewater as a resource to produce high-value chemicals and derivatives, reducing costs and waste sludge production and generating revenues. Alternative technologies are also necessary that are appropriate and affordable in a developing country context.

This Special Issue devoted to “Microbiological Wastewater Treatment” aims to present the current state of the art and innovative research that will address these challenges, so that wastewater treatment systems can adapt and be fit for purpose, robust, and resilient for the next 100 years. 

Prof. Stephen R. Smith
Guest Editor

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