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Advanced Wastewater Treatment Technologies with the Potential to Achieve Resource Recycling

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2026) | Viewed by 6996

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Guest Editor

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Guest Editor
College of Urban Construction, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
Interests: ozone oxidation; ozone catalyst; catalytic ozone oxidation; persulfate oxidation; fenton-like catalyst; Fenton oxidation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

To ensure the long-term environmental, economic, and social well-being of water resources, conservation and sustainable management require implementing strategies and techniques. This field includes a variety of approaches, including reducing water waste, improving water quality, strengthening water infrastructure, promoting water-efficient technologies, and implementing efficient management procedures. Communities can address water scarcity, mitigate the effects of climate change, protect ecosystems, and further sustainable development goals by putting a high priority on water conservation and adopting sustainable management practices. Given climate change, sustainable practices are necessary to guarantee year-round access to high-quality water. We can produce natural water retention measures that absorb water and delay runoff by restoring the sponge function of soils and wetlands. This lessens the severity of floods and increases water availability during droughts.

Accordingly, we invite submission that promote the following topics:

  • Utilization of wetlands and natural sponges;
  • Water reclamation strategies and techniques;
  • Use of technologies for efficient desalination;
  • Climate-resilient water systems;
  • Bioretention techniques for pollution removal.

Dr. Kinjal J. Shah
Dr. Yongjun Sun
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water 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 2600 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 conservation
  • sustainable water management
  • efficient water use
  • water-saving technologies
  • water resource preservation
  • climate-resilient water systems
  • community water stewardship

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 6593 KB  
Article
Effect of Hydraulic Retention Time on Nitrate Removal Through Methane Oxidation Coupled with Denitrification in Membrane Biofilm Reactor After Air Ingress
by Wei Zhang, Xinxin Xiao, Jing Wang, Yuanping Wu, Shuangxue Luo and Hongyu Wang
Water 2026, 18(11), 1317; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18111317 - 29 May 2026
Viewed by 225
Abstract
Greenhouse gas generated from wastewater treatment plants has attracted much attention as it has the potential to be recovered and used as an energy source. In this study, a membrane biofilm reactor was designed to simultaneously enhance nitrate removal and reduce methane (CH [...] Read more.
Greenhouse gas generated from wastewater treatment plants has attracted much attention as it has the potential to be recovered and used as an energy source. In this study, a membrane biofilm reactor was designed to simultaneously enhance nitrate removal and reduce methane (CH4) emissions during methane oxidation coupled with the denitrification process. The enrichment of CH4-driven denitrification microbes with a relatively short hydraulic retention time (HRT) and its effects on the stable operation of the reactor were studied within 250 d. With an increasing HRT from 8 to 20 h, a removal rate of up to approximately 0.51 mg/L·h−1 was achieved, which also kept the effluent NO2-N below 0.5 mg/L. Microbial community analysis showed that the diversity and uniformity of microorganism communities decreased with the addition of CH4 as a carbon source, and the microbial structure changed significantly. Compared with that of seed sludge at the phylum level, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria increased significantly, Alphaproteobacteria and Sphingobacteriia continued to become enriched, and the abundance of Methylocystis increased significantly. Neither denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO) archaea nor bacteria were found in the sequencing analysis. Methylocystis was the dominant CH4 oxidizing bacteria, in synergy with the co-occurrence of autotrophic and heterotrophic denitrifying bacteria, which likely join up in nitrogen removal. Unlike the systems described in most methane-driven denitrification studies, our system achieved nitrate removal without detectable DAMO microbes. Full article
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23 pages, 2399 KB  
Article
Synergistic Pollution Removal in Paper Mill Wastewater Using Monoculture-Constructed Wetlands Optimized by RSM
by Aaima Iftikhar, Malik Tahir Hayat, Bibi Saima Zeb, Maria Siddique, Muhammad Irshad, Qaisar Mahmood, Uneb Gazder and Yung-Tse Hung
Water 2026, 18(1), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18010022 - 21 Dec 2025
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1395
Abstract
The effectiveness of manmade wetlands with four different macrophyte species (Arundo donax, Typha latifolia, Pistia stratiotes, and Eichhornia crassipes) in treating wastewater from the paper recycling industry, located in the Hattar Industrial Estate in Haripur, is reported. The [...] Read more.
The effectiveness of manmade wetlands with four different macrophyte species (Arundo donax, Typha latifolia, Pistia stratiotes, and Eichhornia crassipes) in treating wastewater from the paper recycling industry, located in the Hattar Industrial Estate in Haripur, is reported. The findings show that each plant species has distinct pollutant removal capacities, which contribute to the overall treatment effectiveness of the system. Notably, Arundo donax performed exceptionally well in lowering chemical oxygen demand (COD) from 1013 mg/L to 119.66 mg/L and nitrate levels from 79.66 mg/L to 10.66 mg/L. In contrast, T. latifolia was successful in reducing biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) from 436 mg/L to 55 mg/L and total solids from 837.66 mg/L to 242.66 mg/L. The P. stratiotes species have high phosphate removal capacity, lowering values from 134.66 mg/L to 25.66 mg/L. RSM revealed that time, Arundo donax, and wetlands significantly enhance pollutant removal, while specific plant–treatment combinations yield variable efficiencies, highlighting synergistic effects crucial for optimal performance. Furthermore, all plant species have shown competency in removing heavy metals from effluent. This study’s findings highlight the potential of artificial wetlands as a natural and eco-friendly alternative for treating complex industrial wastewater, promoting the development of sustainable wastewater treatment methods in industrial settings. Full article
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Review

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32 pages, 828 KB  
Review
From Nanomaterial Performance to System Integration: Advancing Realistic Wastewater Treatment Technologies
by Tamer Elsakhawy, Daniella Sári, Mohamed H. Sheta, Neama Abdalla, Hassan El-Ramady and József Prokisch
Water 2026, 18(13), 1551; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18131551 (registering DOI) - 25 Jun 2026
Abstract
Nanotechnology offers transformative potential for wastewater treatment, yet its full-scale implementation remains bottlenecked by the “lab–reality gap”. While bench-scale studies using idealized matrices report outstanding pollutant removal efficiencies, performance routinely deteriorates in authentic wastewater due to complex matrix interferences, natural organic matter (NOM) [...] Read more.
Nanotechnology offers transformative potential for wastewater treatment, yet its full-scale implementation remains bottlenecked by the “lab–reality gap”. While bench-scale studies using idealized matrices report outstanding pollutant removal efficiencies, performance routinely deteriorates in authentic wastewater due to complex matrix interferences, natural organic matter (NOM) competitive binding, fouling dynamics, and unpredictable nano–bio transformations. Moving beyond traditional reviews that focus heavily on material synthesis and theoretical capacities, this review provides a novel, systems-oriented, and function-driven perspective on environmental nanotechnology. We critically evaluate the operational stability and behavior of nano-enabled systems under realistic conditions, categorizing nanomaterial roles into reactive interfaces, selective barriers, signal generators, and biological modulators. Crucially, this work examines the synergistic integration of nanotechnology with advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), membrane bioreactors, and digital intelligence—including artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time nanosensing—to achieve smart fouling management and circular resource recovery. Finally, we propose a comprehensive, multidimensional evaluation framework that simultaneously assesses technical efficiency, stability, scalability, economic feasibility, environmental safety, and system compatibility. This review delivers a pragmatic roadmap to bridge the chasm between isolated laboratory discovery and robust, sustainable, field-scale wastewater engineering. Full article
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22 pages, 1058 KB  
Review
Recent Advances in Organic Pollutant Removal Technologies for High-Salinity Wastewater
by Jun Dai, Yun Gao, Kinjal J. Shah and Yongjun Sun
Water 2025, 17(16), 2494; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17162494 - 21 Aug 2025
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4746
Abstract
Industrial processes like farming, food processing, petroleum refinery, and leather manufacturing produce a lot of high-salinity wastewater. This wastewater presents serious environmental risks, such as soil degradation, eutrophication, and water salinization, if it is released without adequate treatment. The sources and features of [...] Read more.
Industrial processes like farming, food processing, petroleum refinery, and leather manufacturing produce a lot of high-salinity wastewater. This wastewater presents serious environmental risks, such as soil degradation, eutrophication, and water salinization, if it is released without adequate treatment. The sources and features of high-salinity wastewater are outlined in this review, along with the main methods for removing organic pollutants, such as physicochemical, biological, and combined treatment approaches. Membrane separation, coagulation–flocculation, and advanced oxidation processes are the primary physicochemical techniques. Anaerobic and aerobic technologies are the two categories into which biological treatments fall. Physicochemical–biological combinations and the fusion of several physicochemical techniques are examples of integrated technologies. In order to achieve sustainable and effective treatment and resource recovery of high-salinity wastewater, this review compares the effectiveness and drawbacks of each method and recommends that future research concentrate on the development of salt-tolerant catalysts, anti-fouling membrane materials, halophilic microbial consortia, and optimized hybrid treatment systems. Full article
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