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Special Issue "Microbial Action in Wastewater and Sludge"

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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 (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 19827

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Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Mrozik

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Guest Editor

Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia, Jagiellońska 28, 40-032 Katowice, Poland
Interests: activated sludge and leachate; microbial degradation of toxic pollutants; diversity of microorganisms; bioremediation; biomonitoring; nanotechnology
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Prof. Dr. Zofia Piotrowska-Seget

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Guest Editor

Department of Microbiology, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
Interests: microbial metabolism and diversity; degradation of toxic compounds; bioremediation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We welcome you to contribute to the Special Issue “Microbial Action in Wastewater and Sludge” with original articles and reviews addressing recent knowledge on: microbial removal and transformation of phosphorus and nitrogen, impact of toxic compounds (e.g., drugs, heavy metals, aromatic hydrocarbons, endocrine disrupting compounds) on biological activity of sewage sludge microbiome, and participation of microorganisms in degradation/transformation of contaminants. In connection with the above, changes in the functional capacity and genetic diversity of living microorganisms, their enzymatic activity, as well as new strategies that are designed to protect the structure and activity of the activated sludge microbial communities against xenobiotics will also be accepted. Articles on the use of microbial inocula with specific metabolic potential towards increasing the efficiency of contaminants removal during wastewater treatment and new bioremediation technology including nanotechnology will be expected.

Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Mrozik
Prof. Dr. Zofia Piotrowska-Seget
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

dynamics and diversity of microbial populations
enzymatic activity
ecotoxicity of wastewater
degradation/transformation of toxic compounds
removal of nutrients
interactions between microorganisms in sewage and activated sludge
nanotechnology in wastewater treatment

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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Open AccessEditorial

Microbial Action in Wastewater and Sludge

Agnieszka Mrozik

Water 2021, 13(6), 846; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13060846 - 19 Mar 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1381

Abstract

The global upsurge in urbanization and industrialization is inextricably associated with a systematic increase in the amount of municipal and industrial wastewater, and solid waste [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Action in Wastewater and Sludge)

Research

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Open AccessArticle

Effects of Low Concentration of Selected Analgesics and Successive Bioaugmentation of the Activated Sludge on Its Activity and Metabolic Diversity

and

Water 2020, 12(4), 1133; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12041133 - 16 Apr 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2439

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the impact of the successive bioaugmentation of the activated sludge (AS) with the defined bacterial consortium on the activity and functional capacity of the AS microorganisms. In parallel, the removal of low concentrations of the selected non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac) and analgesic paracetamol was studied. We found that the addition of the bacterial consortium consisting of three pharmaceuticals-degrading strains Bacillus thuringiensis B1 (2015b), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KB2, and Pseudomonas moorei KB4 into the AS did not cause any significant changes in the biomass abundance and metabolic activity of the AS microorganisms. Although, the successive bioaugmentation of the AS caused a slight increase in the metabolic diversity, the intensity of carbohydrates usage, and metabolic richness. Microorganisms in the bioaugmented and non-bioaugmented AS were able to degrade the mixture of the analyzed drugs with similar efficiency, however, diclofenac was removed more effectively in the bioaugmented AS. Several metabolites were identified and efficiently utilized, with the exception of 4-OH diclofenac. Two new diclofenac-degrading strains assigned as Serratia proteamaculans AS4 and Rahnella bruchi AS7 were isolated from the diclofenac-treated AS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Action in Wastewater and Sludge)

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Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Bioaugmentation Potential of Pseudomonas putida OR45a and Pseudomonas putida KB3 in the Sequencing Batch Reactors Fed with the Phenolic Landfill Leachate

and

Water 2020, 12(3), 906; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12030906 - 23 Mar 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2701

Abstract

The treatment of landfill leachate could be challenging for the biological wastewater treatment systems due to its high toxicity and the presence of poorly biodegradable contaminants. In this study, the bioaugmentation technology was successfully applied in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) fed with the phenolic landfill leachate by inoculation of the activated sludge (AS) with two phenol-degrading Pseudomonas putida OR45a and Pseudomonas putida KB3 strains. According to the results, the SBRs bioaugmented with Pseudomonas strains withstood the increasing concentrations of the leachate. This resulted in the higher removal efficiency of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 79–86%, ammonia nitrogen of 87–88% and phenolic compounds of 85–96% as compared to 45%, 64%, and 50% for the noninoculated SBR. Simultaneously, the bioaugmentation of the AS allowed to maintain the high enzymatic activity of dehydrogenases, nonspecific esterases, and catalase in this ecosystem, which contributed to the higher functional capacity of indigenous microorganisms than in the noninoculated AS. Herein, the stress level experienced by the microorganisms in the SBRs fed with the leachate computed based on the cellular ATP measurements showed that the abundance of exogenous Pseudomonas strains in the bioreactors contributed to the reduction in effluent toxicity, which was reflected by a decrease in the stress biomass index to 32–45% as compared to the nonbioaugmented AS (76%). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Action in Wastewater and Sludge)

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Open AccessArticle

Mycoremediation of Old and Intermediate Landfill Leachates with an Ascomycete Fungal Isolate, Lambertella sp.

and

Water 2020, 12(3), 800; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12030800 - 13 Mar 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3152

Abstract

In the present study, an Ascomycete fungal strain, Lambertella sp., isolated from environmental polluted matrices, was tested for the capacity to reduce the contamination and the toxicity of intermediate and old landfill leachates. Batch tests in flasks, under co-metabolic conditions, were performed with two different old leachates, with suspended and immobilized Lambertella sp. biomass, resulting in a soluble chemical oxygen demand depletion of 70% and 45%, after 13 and 30 days, respectively. An intermediate landfill leachate was treated in lab-scale reactors operating in continuous conditions for three months, inoculated with immobilized Lambertella sp. biomass, in absence of co-substrates. The Lambertella sp. depleted the corresponding total organic carbon by 90.2%. The exploitability of the Lambertella sp. strain was evaluated also in terms of reduction of phyto-, cyto-, and mutagenicity of the different Landfill Leachates at the end of the myco-based treatment, resulting in an efficient depletion of leachate clastogenicity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Action in Wastewater and Sludge)

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Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Selecting Bacteria Candidates for the Bioaugmentation of Activated Sludge to Improve the Aerobic Treatment of Landfill Leachate

and

Water 2020, 12(1), 140; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010140 - 01 Jan 2020

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3716

Abstract

In this study, a multifaceted approach for selecting the suitable candidates for bioaugmentation of activated sludge (AS) that supports leachate treatment was used. To determine the exploitation of 10 bacterial strains isolated from the various matrices for inoculating the AS contaminated with the Kalina pond leachate (KPL), their degradative potential was analyzed along with their aptitude to synthesize compounds improving remediation of pollutants in wastewater and ability to incorporate into the AS flocs. Based on their capability to degrade aromatic compounds (primarily catechol, phenol, and cresols) at a concentration of 1 mg/mL and survive in 12.5% of the KPL, Pseudomonas putida OR45a and P. putida KB3 can be considered to be the best candidates for bioaugmentation of the AS among all of the bacteria tested. Genomic analyses of these two strains revealed the presence of the genes encoding enzymes related to the metabolism of aromatic compounds. Additionally, both microorganisms exhibited a high hydrophobic propensity (above 50%) and an ability to produce biosurfactants as well as high resistance to ammonium (above 600 µg/mL) and heavy metals (especially chromium). These properties enable the exploitation of both bacterial strains in the bioremediation of the AS contaminated with the KPL. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Action in Wastewater and Sludge)

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Review

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Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Biosorption of Water Pollutants by Fungal Pellets

Adriana Jazmín Legorreta-Castañeda

Carlos Alexander Lucho-Constantino

Rosa Icela Beltrán-Hernández

Claudia Coronel-Olivares

and

Gabriela A. Vázquez-Rodríguez

Water 2020, 12(4), 1155; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12041155 - 17 Apr 2020

Cited by 41 | Viewed by 5952

Abstract

Fungal biosorption is an environmental biotechnology based on the ability of the fungal cell wall to concentrate harmful water pollutants. Among its advantages are its simplicity, high efficiency, flexibility of operation, and low cost. The biosorptive performance of fungal pellets is getting growing attention since they offer process advantages over the culture of disperse mycelia, such as an enhanced biomass separation, and a high resilience in severe environmental conditions. In this review, biosorption capacity of fungal pellets towards heavy metals, dyes, phenolic compounds, humic substances, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals was reviewed. Available data about the adsorption capacity of pellets, their removal efficiency, and the operational conditions used were collected and synthesized. The studies relying on biodegradation were discarded to present only the possibilities of fungal pellets for removing these concern pollutants through biosorption. It was found that the biosorption of complex mixtures of pollutants on fungal pellets is scarcely studied, as well as the interfering effect of anions commonly found in water and wastewater. Furthermore, there is a lack of research with real wastewater and at pilot and large scale. These topics need to be further explored to take full advantage of fungal pellets on improving the quality of aquatic systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Action in Wastewater and Sludge)

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