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Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recycling and Recovery: Agricultural, Industrial, and Small-Scale Systems Effluents and Runoff

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 13809

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Aleksandra Drizo

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Guest Editor

Sustainability Science and Engineering, Tunghai University International College, Taichung City, Taiwan
Interests: environmental protection; water pollution mitigation, prevention, and control; best environmental management practices; circular economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The deterioration of water quality due to pollution caused by humans and their activities has become a universal health, environmental, social, and economic problem. Inadequate or insufficient treatment of wastewater and runoff originating from agriculture activities, industrial production, mining, and untreated discharges from human households has become an increasing threat to water and food security globally. Excess discharges of nutrients resulting in harmful algae blooms (HABs) have been recognized as one of the most prevalent water pollution problems globally. Global climate change will promote cyanobacterial growth and aggravate HABs at much larger scales. It will also continue to diminish global water resources and potable water supplies.

However, pollutant removal is currently required mainly for large industrial and municipal sewage treatment plants. For example, despite the recognition of agriculture as the major contributor to water pollution worldwide (nutrients, pathogens, emerging contaminants), the current regulatory framework does not require agricultural farm effluents and runoff treatment. Instead, when dealing with the pollution from agricultural sources, water directives and/or national policies prescribe particular compliance options for the “best possible measures”, “best management practices” or “good practices”, leaving it to national regulators and permitting agencies to determine what these measures and practices are.

Over the past 10 years, there has been the universal acknowledgment of the need for better treatment and management of wastewater. In particular, there has been a shift toward a circular economy and exploring the potential for finding solutions for resource recovery and recycling from wastewaters.

Therefore, this Special Issue will present sustainable solutions for wastewater treatment and resource recycling and recovery from non-regulated, point, and diffuse pollution sources originating from agricultural, industrial, and small communities’ effluents and runoff.

Dr. Aleksandra Drizo

Guest Editor

Keywords

Water Pollution (nutrients, metals and minerals, fertilizers and pesticides, emerging contaminants)
Agricultural food processing, animal husbandry effluents and runoff
Good Agricultural Practices, best environmental management practices
Nature Based Solutions
Integrated watershed management
Textile industry effluents
Industrial wastewater from electronics industries
Small wastewater treatment systems: remote residential communities, tourism (small hotels in coastal regions, ecotourism)

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 73559 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Constructed Wetlands as a Landscape Management Practice for Nutrient Removal from Agricultural Runoff—A Local Practice Case on the East Coast of Taiwan

by Chung-Yu Hsu, Guo-En Yan, Kuang-Chi Pan and Kuang-Chung Lee

Water 2021, 13(21), 2973; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13212973 - 21 Oct 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2557

Abstract

Runoff with excessive nutrients from rice paddy fields that releases into the Pacific Ocean has been a possible cause of water body pollution and harm to marine life. Constructed wetlands had developed for decades but were rarely implemented in treating agricultural pollution in Taiwan. Moreover, the environmental policies haven’t provided enough instructions, support, or compensation for the establishment of this practice. The rice paddy field that was chosen in this study is located in Xinshe, Taiwan. It is close to the Pacific Ocean where coral reefs are nearby and fishery resource is abundant. In this study, the northern half of the whole organic field was chosen, and the contributing area is approximately 1 × 10⁵ m². Four plots of constructed wetlands (approximately 17.5 m wide, 16.7 m long, and 0.2 m deep each, covering 1164.74 m² of the total area) and employing surface flow were established as CW treatment. Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) was used for treating the nutrient runoff from organic rice paddy fields. Water samples of input and output of constructed wetlands were collected during 51 days of the experimental period (from the first day of rice transplantation to 10-days before harvest). Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, and total phosphorus concentrations were analyzed to calculate the nutrient load. The runoff of rice paddy fields without constructed wetlands was also sampled as a reference (RPF treatment). In average, about 54.3% ammonia and 42.7% nitrate was removed from the runoff that went through the CW treatment, while 4.2% ammonia and 51.3% nitrate increase were found at the output of the RPF treatment. Meanwhile, 35.6% of total phosphorus and 29.5% of phosphate were removed from the runoff of constructed wetlands. Only 16.4% total phosphorus and 6.4% phosphate were removed from the RPF treatment. Results indicate that constructed wetlands are promising treatment for agricultural runoff and the result can be used as a reference for the future environmental policies enactment in Taiwan. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recycling and Recovery: Agricultural, Industrial, and Small-Scale Systems Effluents and Runoff)

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14 pages, 1933 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on Biological Fluidized Bed System Treatment Performance and Nitrogen Removal Process for Seafood Processing Wastewater with Different Operation Conditions

by Yi Ding, Hong You, Wei Sun, Zhansheng Guo, Junxue Mei, Xuguang Hou, Zhenlin Liang and Zhipeng Li

Water 2021, 13(19), 2630; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13192630 - 24 Sep 2021

Viewed by 2764

Abstract

In this study, the biological fluidized bed system was used to treat seafood processing wastewater. The sludge was collected from the secondary sedimentation tank of a municipal wastewater treatment plant and acclimated for 200 days before the experiment. The treatment efficiencies of simulated seafood processing wastewater by biological fluidized bed system with different sludge concentrations, different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) and different bio-carriers were studied. The results showed that the removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus increased with the increasing sludge concentration and by extending hydraulic retention time, and the higher removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus could be obtained with the higher specific surface area of the bio-carrier. The nitrogen removal process analysis showed that the nitrification and denitrification activity of sludge could be changed with different operation conditions resulting in different nitrogen removal efficiency in the biological fluidized bed system. This was mainly because the change tendency of the ammonia nitrogen oxidizing process, nitrite oxidizing process, nitrite reduction process and nitrate reduction process was different with different operation conditions in a high salinity environment. Theoretically, the difference of the inhibitory effect of a high-salt environment on different nitrification and denitrification processes could be used to realize shortcut nitrification denitrification by controlling a certain operation condition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recycling and Recovery: Agricultural, Industrial, and Small-Scale Systems Effluents and Runoff)

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14 pages, 2079 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Copper and Zinc Removal Efficiency of Two Reactive Filter Media Treating Motorway Runoff—Model for Service Life Estimation

by Raúl Rodríguez-Gómez, Agnieszka Renman, Batoul Mahmoudzadeh and Gunno Renman

Water 2021, 13(18), 2592; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13182592 - 20 Sep 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3419

Abstract

The predominant techniques used for road runoff treatment are sedimentation and filtration. In filtration systems, the ability of the media to adsorb the contaminants is a finite process. Consequently, construction, operation and maintenance managers of such systems should know in advance the service life, i.e., when the used medium should be replaced, and associated costs of operation and maintenance. A batch experiment followed by a packed bed reactor (PBR) experiment addressed the kinetics of the studied media argon oxygen decarburization slag (AOD) and Polonite, followed by the development of a 1D-model to describe the change of concentration of Cu and Zn within time. The batch test results showed that Cu and Zn adsorption followed the Freundlich isotherms for AOD and Polonite. Those results coupled with the linear driving force model and the developed model resulted in good agreement between the PBR results and the simulation. The model was capable to predict (i), the service life at the hydraulic load of 0.18 m/h for AOD (Cu: 395 d; Zn: 479 d) and Polonite (Cu: 445 d; Zn: 910 d), to show (ii) the profile concentration in the PBR within time and the gradient of the concentration along the height of the reactor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recycling and Recovery: Agricultural, Industrial, and Small-Scale Systems Effluents and Runoff)

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Review

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31 pages, 419 KiB

Open AccessReview

An Inventory of Good Management Practices for Nutrient Reduction, Recycling and Recovery from Agricultural Runoff in Europe’s Northern Periphery and Arctic Region

by Aleksandra Drizo, Chris Johnston and Jón Guðmundsson

Water 2022, 14(13), 2132; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14132132 - 04 Jul 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2185

Abstract

The excess loading of nutrients generated by agricultural activities is a leading cause of water quality impairment across the globe. Various management practices have been developed and widely implemented as conservation management strategies to combat water pollution originating from agricultural activities. In the last ten years, there has also been a widespread recognition of the need for nutrient harvesting from wastewaters and resource recovery. In Europe’s Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) areas, the expertise in water and runoff management is sporadic and needs to be improved. Therefore, the objective of this research was to perform a comprehensive review of the state of the art of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for the NPA region. A set of questionnaires was distributed to project partners combined with a comprehensive literature review of GAPs focusing on those relevant and/or implemented in the NPA region. Twenty-four GAPs were included in the inventory. This review reveals that there is a large level of uncertainty, inconsistency, and a gap in the knowledge regarding the effectiveness of GAPs in nutrient reduction (NRE), their potential for nutrient recycling and recovery (NRR), and their operation and maintenance requirements (OMR) and costs. Although the contribution of GAPs to water quality improvement could not be quantified, this inventory provides a comprehensive and first-of-its-kind guide on available measures and practices to assist regional and local authorities and communities in the NAP region. A recommendation for incorporating and retrofitting phosphorus retaining media (PRMs) in some of the GAPs, and/or the implementation of passive filtration systems and trenches filled with PRMs to intercept surface and subsurface farm flows, would result in the enhancement of both NRE and NRR. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recycling and Recovery: Agricultural, Industrial, and Small-Scale Systems Effluents and Runoff)

14 pages, 1972 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review on SARS-CoV-2 Genome in the Aquatic Environment of Africa: Prevalence, Persistence and the Future Prospects

by Kingsley Ehi Ebomah, Luyanda Msolo and Anthony Ifeanyi Okoh

Water 2022, 14(13), 2020; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14132020 - 24 Jun 2022

Viewed by 1737

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic (Coronavirus disease 2019) remains problematic in all its manifestations on the global stage where countless events of human-to-human exposure have led to fatal cases; thus, the aftermath being an unprecedented public health concern, with inaccessible health care and the instability of economies and financial institutions. These pose massive obstacles that can insatiably devour existing human resources causing negative impacts, especially in developing countries. Tracking the origin, dissemination and mutating strains of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) on population-wide scales is a somewhat overwhelming task, with the urgent need to map the dissemination and magnitude of SARS-CoV-2 in near real-time. This review paper focuses on the poor sanitation of some waterbodies and wastewater management policies in low-income African countries, highlighting how these contribute to the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent. Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic, there has been an upsurge in scientific literature and studies concerning SARS-CoV-2 with different opinions and findings. The current paper highlights the challenges and also summarizes the environmental aspects related to the monitoring and fate of the SARS-CoV-2 genomes in the aquatic milieu of Sub-Saharan Africa. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recycling and Recovery: Agricultural, Industrial, and Small-Scale Systems Effluents and Runoff)

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