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Water Quality Management in Aquaculture Systems

A Special Issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441) belonging to the section "Water, Agriculture and Aquaculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2026 | Viewed by 1269

Editors


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Guest Editor
Agricultural Engineering Institute, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
Interests: recirculating aquaculture system; aquaculture wastewater treatment; moving bed biofilm reactor; biofloc; emerging pollutants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
School of Fisheries and Life Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Interests: environmental engineering; aquaculture; wastewater treatment; resource recycling; sustainable aquaculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Ocean Academy, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: aquatic biological environmental engineering; sustainable aquaculture technolo-gies; high-throughput data processing and bioinformatics analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, there has been growing recognition for the urgent need for more sustainable water quality management in aquaculture systems. As the fastest-growing food production sector, aquaculture must intensify production while minimizing environmental footprints, and water quality lies at the heart of this challenge. Emerging strategies stem from the understanding that maintaining optimal conditions requires integrated biological, chemical, and physical processes, offering co-benefits such as reduced water consumption, lower disease incidence, and improved waste valorization.

This Special Issue explores how innovative water quality management can drive sustainable aquaculture development. It covers a range of solutions, from recirculating aquaculture systems, biofloc technology, and integrated multi-trophic aquaculture to advanced real-time sensors, artificial intelligence, and nature-based treatment units like constructed wetlands and biofilters. These approaches help control critical parameters—dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrite, and pathogens—while enhancing resource-use efficiency and resilience to climate variability. We invite original research and reviews that advance the science and practice of water quality management in freshwater and marine aquaculture systems, fostering cross-disciplinary dialogue and encouraging the adoption of sustainable, knowledge-based strategies across the sector.

Dr. Changwei Li
Dr. Wenchang Liu
Dr. Gang Liu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • aquaculture water quality
  • recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS)
  • biofloc technology
  • integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA)
  • real-time water quality monitoring
  • nature-based water treatment
  • constructed wetlands and biofiltration

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3247 KB  
Article
A Biofloc Technology–Microbial Fuel Cell Coupled System for Enhanced Water Purification, Biofloc Regulation and Energy Recovery in Aquaculture
by Changwei Li, Zhenbo Ge, Yubing Lu and Limin Dai
Water 2026, 18(17), 2115; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18172115 - 27 Aug 2026
Viewed by 273
Abstract
Low organic carbon utilization efficiency is a core bottleneck restricting the application of biofloc technology (BFT) in intensive aquaculture, accompanied by limited total nitrogen removal, excessive biofloc accumulation, and underutilized chemical energy in organic wastes. To address this issue, this study develops a [...] Read more.
Low organic carbon utilization efficiency is a core bottleneck restricting the application of biofloc technology (BFT) in intensive aquaculture, accompanied by limited total nitrogen removal, excessive biofloc accumulation, and underutilized chemical energy in organic wastes. To address this issue, this study develops a novel biofloc technology–microbial fuel cell (BFT-MFC) coupled system that exploits surplus carbon sources in BFT as electron donors for bioelectricity generation while synergistically enhancing water purification performance. Compared with a conventional standalone BFT system, the coupled system was systematically evaluated in terms of water quality regulation, biofloc control and electricity generation performance. Results showed that the BFT-MFC system maintained relatively stable dissolved oxygen, pH, and temperature throughout the operation period. The ammonia nitrogen concentration remained relatively low in the BFT-MFC system, although a transient increase to approximately 0.35 mg/L occurred around day 20 before subsequently declining, and total nitrogen fluctuated within 4.29–12.87 mg/L, with substantially less accumulation than that observed in the BFT system, in contrast to the control group, where TN continuously rose to a peak of 23.55 mg/L. Total organic carbon was stabilized within a narrower range of 150–245 mg/L, compared with the wide fluctuation of 129.6–360 mg/L in the single BFT system. Additionally, the coupled system exhibited lower net biofloc accumulation based on floc-volume measurements, while maintaining effective water-quality regulation, and the integrated MFC delivered a maximum output voltage of 295.9 mV and a peak power density of 1716.8 mW m−2. Overall, the BFT-MFC coupled system integrates wastewater purification, biofloc regulation and energy recovery into a single unit, offering a promising sustainable strategy for industrial recirculating aquaculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Quality Management in Aquaculture Systems)
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16 pages, 6369 KB  
Article
Mechanistic Insights from C/N Ratio and Biodegradability on Methane Yield and Microbial Dynamics in High-Solids Anaerobic Digestion
by Huimin Zhou, Xiaochang Lin, Jiayi Lin, Zhengqian Liu, Junqiu Jiang, Qiang Ke and Min Zhao
Water 2026, 18(15), 1778; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18151778 - 23 Jul 2026
Viewed by 517
Abstract
High-solid anaerobic digestion (HS-AD) is one of the most efficient and popular solid-waste-treatment and energy-recovery technologies. However, it is significantly influenced by composition and substrate characteristics, with the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N ratio) and biodegradability being important. In this study, the substrate was adjusted [...] Read more.
High-solid anaerobic digestion (HS-AD) is one of the most efficient and popular solid-waste-treatment and energy-recovery technologies. However, it is significantly influenced by composition and substrate characteristics, with the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N ratio) and biodegradability being important. In this study, the substrate was adjusted and compounded to investigate the methanogenesis performance with the substrate C/N ratio (2.82–82.72) and biodegradability (refractory and easily degraded) variation during HS-AD. The results showed that the highest methane yield (MY) was achieved with white meat (273.02 mL/g-VS), which was 2.22 times higher than that of substrates with higher C/N ratios. However, this enhanced methane productivity was accompanied by elevated total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) concentrations, which substantially increased the risk of system instability. For a high C/N ratio (>50:1), the difference between the C/N ratio and biodegradability had little influence on MY, and under a low C/N ratio (<5:1), the methane production rate was higher. For low C/N substrates, acetic (14.53–76.82%) accounted for the highest total volatile fatty acids (VFAs) during HS-AD, and for high C/N ratio substrates, propionic (46.44–82.66%) had a higher proportion (r = 0.94). An increased C/N ratio decreased total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) and alkalinity (p < 0.05). Variations in the C/N ratio and biodegradability led to differences in the microbial composition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Quality Management in Aquaculture Systems)
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