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Sustainable Water Pollution Control: Bioremediation and Biological Solutions

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 June 2026 | Viewed by 711

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA
Interests: bioremediation; biodegradation; water quality; microbial indicator; microbial community; microbial responses

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA
Interests: water quality; coastal ecosystem model; nutrient cycling; biogeochemical cycling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water pollution is a major environmental concern and public health threat globally. The Special Issue “Sustainable Water Pollution Control: Bioremediation and Biological Solutions” addresses this issue using biological treatment methods and bioremediation technologies. This Special Issue covers recent research and technologies that use biological resources to improve water quality and the environment for the benefit of sustainable development. Especially, biological processes such as microbial bioremediation, phytoremediation, and algae-based treatment, etc., will be covered. Also, this Special Issue addresses emerging bioengineering techniques for the sustainable removal of contaminants from various aquatic environments. To handle this topic, research articles, review articles, and short communications are all welcomed for this Special Issue.

Dr. Myung Hwangbo
Dr. Jongsun Kim
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • water pollution
  • bioremediation
  • biodegradation
  • biological processes
  • water quality
  • phytoremediation
  • algae-based treatment

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 1567 KB  
Article
RSM- and ANN-Based Optimization and Modeling of Pollutant Reduction and Biomass Production of Azolla pinnata Using Paper Mill Effluent
by Madhumita Goala, Vinod Kumar, Archana Bachheti, Ivan Širić and Željko Andabaka
Sustainability 2026, 18(6), 3036; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18063036 - 19 Mar 2026
Viewed by 438
Abstract
The discharge of untreated paper mill effluent poses significant ecological risks due to its high organic and nutrient loads. This study aimed to assess the phytoremediation potential of Azolla pinnata for treating paper mill effluent. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Network [...] Read more.
The discharge of untreated paper mill effluent poses significant ecological risks due to its high organic and nutrient loads. This study aimed to assess the phytoremediation potential of Azolla pinnata for treating paper mill effluent. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modeling approaches were applied and optimization was used for pollutant removal and plant biomass production. Experiments were designed using a Central Composite Design with two independent variables: effluent concentration (0, 50, and 100%) and plant density (10, 20, and 30 g per container). The responses measured were biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies, and final biomass yield after 16 days of exposure. RSM produced statistically significant (p < 0.05) second-order regression models for all three responses (coefficient of determination; R2 > 0.98), while ANN showed slightly lower prediction errors within the experimental range studied. Maximum observed removal efficiencies were 91.74% for BOD, 80.91% for COD, and 92.66 g biomass yield under 50% effluent concentration and 30 g plant density. Optimization via both models suggested closely comparable operating conditions (79% effluent concentration and 29 g biomass) for optimal performance. The results indicate that A. pinnata demonstrates potential as a low-cost, nature-based treatment system for industrial effluent remediation under controlled conditions. The integration of data-driven optimization with biological treatment contributes to sustainable effluent management strategies by reducing chemical inputs, minimizing energy demand, and enabling biomass generation with potential downstream valorization. Full article
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