Topic Editors

Chemical & Materials Engineering Department, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Water Science PL and Alluvium Consulting Australia, Monash University, Echuca, Australia

Sustainable Technologies for Water Purification

Abstract submission deadline
30 September 2025
Manuscript submission deadline
30 November 2025
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Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

A large amount of emerging environmental contaminants, such as antibiotics, organic dyes, pesticides, heavy metal ions, and so on, are emitted daily into water bodies due to industrialization, which leads to a worsening crisis for water environments. Water scarcity has resulted in severe challenges. A variety of emerging technologies concerning water purification and treatment, such as membrane filtration, adsorption, chemical oxidation, catalytic degradation, biotechnology, and so on, have been developed to decrease pollution efficiently. This Special Issue “Sustainable Technologies for Water Purification” discusses relevant sustainable technologies for water and wastewater treatment pertaining to a nanoscale approach, membrane-based technologies for water recovery and reuse, the energy and water nexus, degradation of organic pollutants, nascent technologies, bio and bio-inspired materials for water reclamation and integrated systems, and an overview of wastewater treatment plants.

Prof. Dr. Rakesh Govind
Dr. Barry T. Hart
Topic Editors

Keywords

  • wastewater treatment
  • water treatment
  • environmental biotechnology
  • water quality
  • bioremediation
  • membranes
  • biodegradation

Participating Journals

Journal Name Impact Factor CiteScore Launched Year First Decision (median) APC
Molecules
molecules
4.2 7.4 1996 15.1 Days CHF 2700 Submit
Pollutants
pollutants
- - 2021 28.9 Days CHF 1000 Submit
Separations
separations
2.5 3.0 2014 12.4 Days CHF 2600 Submit
Sustainability
sustainability
3.3 6.8 2009 20 Days CHF 2400 Submit
Water
water
3.0 5.8 2009 16.5 Days CHF 2600 Submit

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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60 pages, 6757 KiB  
Review
Recent Advances in Ball-Milled Materials and Their Applications for Adsorptive Removal of Aqueous Pollutants
by Pei Gao, Xuanhao Fan, Da Sun, Guoming Zeng, Quanfeng Wang and Qihui Wang
Water 2024, 16(12), 1639; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16121639 - 7 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1901
Abstract
Ball milling, as a cost-effective and eco-friendly approach, has been popular in materials synthesis to solve problems involving toxic reagents, high temperatures, or high pressure, which has the potential for large-scale production. However, there are few reviews specifically concentrating on the latest progress [...] Read more.
Ball milling, as a cost-effective and eco-friendly approach, has been popular in materials synthesis to solve problems involving toxic reagents, high temperatures, or high pressure, which has the potential for large-scale production. However, there are few reviews specifically concentrating on the latest progress in materials characteristics before and after ball milling as well as the adsorptive application for aqueous pollutants. Hence, this paper summarized the principle and classification of ball milling and reviewed the advances of mechanochemical materials in categories as well as their adsorption performance of organic and inorganic pollutants. Ball milling has the capacity to change materials’ crystal structure, specific surface areas, pore volumes, and particle sizes and even promote grafting reactions to obtain functional groups to surfaces. This improved the adsorption amount, changed the equilibrium time, and strengthened the adsorption force for contaminants. Most studies showed that the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order model fitted experimental data well. The regeneration methods include ball milling and thermal and solvent methods. The potential future developments in this field were also proposed. This work tries to review the latest advances in ball-milled materials and their application for pollutant adsorption and provides a comprehensive understanding of the physicochemical properties of materials before and after ball milling, as well as their effects on pollutants’ adsorption behavior. This is conducive to laying a foundation for further research on water decontamination by ball-milled materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Topic Sustainable Technologies for Water Purification)
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15 pages, 6185 KiB  
Article
The Molecular Identification and Comprehensive Analysis of Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolated from Industrial Wastewater
by Kai Yan, Changfu Li, Weiyu Wang, Juan Guo and Haifeng Wang
Separations 2024, 11(4), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations11040121 - 17 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1868
Abstract
Industrial wastewater typically contains many organic and inorganic pollutants and is also contaminated by various microorganisms. Microbial species in industrial wastewater have not been extensively investigated. In this experiment, a Klebsiella pneumoniae strain was isolated for the first time from industrial wastewater containing [...] Read more.
Industrial wastewater typically contains many organic and inorganic pollutants and is also contaminated by various microorganisms. Microbial species in industrial wastewater have not been extensively investigated. In this experiment, a Klebsiella pneumoniae strain was isolated for the first time from industrial wastewater containing a high concentration of sulfate and phosphate. Mass spectrometry, genetic analysis, and biochemical identification were conducted to understand the genetic and biochemical characteristics of this Klebsiella pneumoniae strain recovered from industrial wastewater. Growth experiments revealed that it exhibited an excellent growth rate in nutrient broth. Further analyses showed that the strain was sensitive to most antibiotics but resistant to chloramphenicol and nitrofurantoin. It also exhibited significant resistance to piperacillin/tazobactam and cefotaxime/clavulanic acid. Resistance gene experiments indicated the presence of gyrA, OqxB, and ParC genes associated with antibiotic resistance in the isolated Klebsiella pneumoniae strain. Proteomics uncovered the following three proteins related to drug resistance: the multi-drug resistant outer membrane protein MdtQ, the multi-drug resistant secretion protein, and the modulator of drug activity B, which are coexistent in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Proteomics and bioinformatics analyses further analyzed the protein composition and functional enrichment of Klebsiella pneumoniae. The isolation of Klebsiella pneumoniae from a high concentration in sulfate and phosphate industrial wastewater provides a new direction for further research on the characteristics and drug resistance traits of industrial wastewater microorganisms and the potential risks they may pose when released into the environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Topic Sustainable Technologies for Water Purification)
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18 pages, 4314 KiB  
Article
The Application of an Electrocoagulation Process to the Sustainable Treatment of Initial Rainwater and the Simulation of a Flow Pattern in an Experimental Device
by Haiyan Yang, Zhe Wang, Kai Fu and Qingda Luo
Sustainability 2024, 16(1), 161; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010161 - 23 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1320
Abstract
The pollutant content in initial rainwater is very high, so the treatment and research of initial rainwater has become an engagement issue in controlling non-point source pollution and realizing sustainable development in Chinese cities. This study explores the best flow pattern suitable for [...] Read more.
The pollutant content in initial rainwater is very high, so the treatment and research of initial rainwater has become an engagement issue in controlling non-point source pollution and realizing sustainable development in Chinese cities. This study explores the best flow pattern suitable for treating initial rainwater by electrocoagulation (EC), and a pilot-scale experiment is conducted to analyze the effect of the EC process on the treatment of initial rainwater. The findings indicate that the latter enhances the turbulent flow effect and the EC process treatment effect better under the two flow modes of parallel perforation flow and dislocation perforation flow. For the dislocation perforated flow pattern, the removal rates of suspended matter (SS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and phosphorus (TP) are 94.00%, 81.95%, and 98.97%, respectively, which reach the expected treatment targets. Using the electrocoagulation–filtration (ECF) process to treat initial rainwater, the final effluent exhibits high quality and could be used as urban circulating cooling water. Specifically, SS, COD, and TP concentrations are 15.00 mg/L, 21.06 mg/L, and 0.11 mg/L, respectively. The hydraulic retention time of the process is short, only 30 min, and the energy consumption is low, 0.57 kWh. This study provides a reference for the sustainable treatment of early urban rainwater and the design of the flow pattern of the EC process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Topic Sustainable Technologies for Water Purification)
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