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Eco-Engineered Solutions for Industrial Wastewater

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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: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1923

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Luciana Pereira

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Guest Editor

Department of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710–057 Braga, Portugal
Interests: anaerobic digestion biorremediation; degradation; detoxification; micropollutants; nanomaterials engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to bring together innovative research and practical applications in the field of eco-engineered wastewater treatment solutions tailored for industrial effluents. With rising concerns over water scarcity, pollution from dyes, surfactants, and other emerging contaminants, and the need for sustainable treatment strategies, nature-based systems like Constructed Wetlands (CWs) have gained significant attention. The Issue will focus on advances in substrate engineering, plant selection, hydrological regimes (e.g., tidal flow), and microbial dynamics that enhance pollutant removal efficiency. Special emphasis will be given to the integration of locally available, low-cost materials—such as seashells, ceramics, and agricultural byproducts—that not only improve treatment performance but also support circular economy principles. In addition to CWs, other natural biological systems like biofilters, waste stabilization ponds, and algal–bacterial consortia, among others, will also be explored for their effectiveness, adaptability, and ecological value. Case studies and pilot-scale demonstrations that highlight the feasibility and resilience of these systems under real-world industrial scenarios are welcome. This collection aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among engineers, microbiologists, ecologists, and practitioners, contributing to the design of scalable and regulatory-compliant eco-technologies for industrial wastewater management.

Topics Covered in This Special Issue

Constructed wetlands for industrial wastewater treatment: design innovations, substrate selection, plant species, and operational regimes;
Sustainable and locally available substrates;
Removal of emerging pollutants;
Microbial community dynamics in natural treatment systems;
Hydrological and redox management in nature-based systems;
Biofilters, waste stabilization ponds, and algal–bacterial consortia;
Toxicity assessment and ecotoxicological monitoring;
Circular economy and resource recovery in eco-technologies;
Pilot-scale and full-scale demonstrations: case studies, performance data, and scalability analyses;
Policy, standards, and life cycle assessment (LCA): alignment with environmental regulations and evaluation of sustainability metrics.

Dr. Luciana Pereira
Guest Editor

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. 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

constructed wetlands
industrial wastewater
nature-based solutions
sustainable substrates
tidal flow systems
dye and surfactant removal
microbial ecology
eco-engineering
low-cost materials
circular economy

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 1714 KB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Small-Settlement Wastewater Discharges on the Irtysh River Using Tracer-Based Mixing Diagnostics and Regularized Predictive Models

by Samal Anapyanova, Valentina Kolpakova, Monika Kulisz, Madina Nabiollina, Yuliya Yeremeyeva, Nailya Nurbayeva and Anvar Sherov

Water 2026, 18(2), 232; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18020232 - 15 Jan 2026

Viewed by 436

Abstract

An integrated field–analytical framework was applied to quantify the impact of two small-settlement treatment facilities (TF1 and TF2) on the Irtysh River (East Kazakhstan). The main objective of this study is to quantify effluent-driven dilution and non-conservative changes in key water-quality indicators downstream of TF1 and TF2 and to evaluate parsimonious models for predicting effluent-outlet BOD and COD from upstream measurements. Paired upstream–downstream control sections are sampled in 2024–2025 for 22 indicators, and plant influent–effluent records are compiled for key wastewater variables. Chloride-based conservative mixing indicated very strong dilution (approximately

D \approx 2.0 \times 10^{3}

for TF1 and

D \approx 4.2 \times 10^{2}

for TF2). Deviations from the mixing line were summarized using a transformation diagnostic

θ

. At TF1, several constituents exceeded mixing expectations (

θ \approx 13

for COD,

θ \approx 42

for ammonium, and

θ \approx 6

for phosphates), while nitrate shows net attenuation

θ < 0

. At TF2,

θ

values cluster near unity, indicating modest deviations. Under a small-sample regime

(N = 10)

and leave-one-out validation, regularized regression provided accurate forecasts of effluent-outlet BOD and COD. Lasso under LOOCV performed best (BOD_after: RMSE = 0.626, MAE = 0.459, and

R^{2} = 0.976

; COD_after: RMSE = 0.795, MAE = 0.634, and

R^{2} = 0.997

). The results reconcile strong reach-scale dilution with constituent-specific local departures and support targeted modernization and operational forecasting for water-quality management in small facilities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Engineered Solutions for Industrial Wastewater)

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16 pages, 3305 KB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of SDS Surfactant on Oxygen Transfer in a Fine-Bubble Diffuser Aeration Column

by Oscar Prades-Mateu, Guillem Monrós-Andreu, Salvador Torró, Raúl Martínez-Cuenca and Sergio Chiva

Water 2025, 17(24), 3473; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17243473 - 7 Dec 2025

Viewed by 973

Abstract

Aeration is one of the most energy-intensive operations in wastewater treatment plants, with its efficiency strongly affected by the presence of surfactants. This study investigates the impact of Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS) on oxygen mass transfer using a commercial fine-bubble diffuser. Oxygen transfer [...] Read more.

k_{L} a

), gas holdup, bubble size, and interfacial area, were experimentally measured and analysed. SDS reduces the average bubble diameter by up to 50%; above 4 mg/L, further increases in concentration do not change the bubble size. Gas holdup increases by approximately 2% per mg L⁻¹ of SDS, and a new empirical correlation was proposed to predict gas holdup as a function of air flow rate and surfactant concentration, achieving an R² of 0.97 with deviations below 10%. Despite the increase in interfacial area, SDS strongly suppresses interfacial turbulence, reducing the liquid-side mass transfer coefficient (

k_{L}

) by up to 70%, which ultimately leads to a significant loss of overall oxygen transfer efficiency. The Sardeing model, originally developed for single bubbles, successfully predicted

k_{L}

within ±15% of the experimental values, demonstrating its potential as a practical tool for estimating oxygen transfer in aeration systems. These findings highlight the substantial impact of surfactants on fine-bubble aeration performance and underscore the need to account for their effects in the design and operation of industrial aeration systems. Full article