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Environmental Analysis of Water Pollution and Water Treatment

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2023) | Viewed by 19107

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. António Diogo

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Leading Guest Editor

Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: hydraulics, water resources and environment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The requirements of fresh water, and the environmental emergency introduce demands on the quantity and quality of available resources for the development of socioeconomic activities, and on the pollution control of the water masses on Earth. These are essential issues for guaranteeing the quality of life of populations worldwide and the environmental sustainability of natural resources on a planet subject to rapid population growth, urbanization and climate change. The anthropogenic pressure on the hydrosphere and the inability of the systems to restore themselves swiftly by natural processes, particularly under growing extreme events like for example droughts or floods, due to the current global warming, are requiring continuously increasing attention from the scientific community and an increasing additional research effort. In this socioeconomic, engineering, technological, and scientific context, this Special Issue intends to provide a small contribution to the knowledge advancement in the fields of environmental sustainability of water resources, pollution control, and wastewater treatment and reuse that are directly related with these increasing challenges, and with the corresponding emerging scientific problems. In a comprehensive perspective of the environmental analysis of the hydrosphere’s current state, anthropogenic interdependence, and possible developments and interventions, the Lead Guest Editor particularly welcomes the submission of scientific contributions in the areas of natural sciences, engineering and technological applications directly related with: surface water and underground water quality, availability, and treatment for human consumption, irrigation, and other uses; wastewater collection, treatment and reuse according to different needs; and pollution control or pollution mitigation in open or closed water bodies.

Prof. Dr. António Manuel Abreu Freire Diogo
Leading 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 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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

environmental sustainability
hydrosphere and climate change
water resources assessment
water quality and treatment
pollution control and mitigation
wastewater systems
wastewater treatment processes
wastewater reuse

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 3022 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Design and Performance Prediction Model of an Integrated Scheme of a Membrane Bioreactor and Anaerobic Digester for the Treatment of Domestic Wastewater and Biowaste

by Nicos Solomou, Dimitris Malamis, Elli Maria Barampouti, Sofia Mai and Maria Loizidou

Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 11455; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411455 - 24 Jul 2023

Viewed by 6109

Abstract

An innovative and integrated scheme that encompasses two well-established waste treatment technologies, the aerobic biological degradation of organic matter bioprocess via membranes and anaerobic digestion, was demonstrated as a zero-waste approach that may effectively treat wastewater and biowaste in an integrated and symbiotic manner. Aiming to create a tool for the design, monitoring, and control of the scheme, prediction models were developed, validated, and implemented for the process simulation of the integrated scheme. The minimization of selected objective functions led to the estimation of the models’ parameters. The activated sludge model no. 1 (ASM1) was adopted for the simulation of the aerobic membrane bioreactor. The kinetic parameters were calibrated using volatile suspended solids and total nitrogen as the objective functions permitting the model to simulate the bioprocess satisfactorily (Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency > 0.86) and to calculate the concentration of the active biomass. The predominance of heterotrophic bacteria (4300 to 9770 mg COD/L) over autotrophic biomass (508 to 1422 mg COD/L) was showcased. For the anaerobic process unit, a simplified anaerobic digestion model 1 ADM1-R4 was used, and the first-order hydrolysis constants (k_ch 0.41 d⁻¹, k_pr 0.25 d⁻¹, k_li 0.09 d⁻¹) and microbial decay rate (k_dec 0.02 d⁻¹) were evaluated, enabling an accurate prediction of biogas production rates. A full-scale implementation of the integrated scheme was conducted for a decentralized waste treatment plant in a small community. Preliminary design calculations were performed in order to estimate the values related to certain process and technical parameters. The performance of this full-scale plant was simulated by the developed model, presenting clear benefits for practical applications in waste treatment plants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Analysis of Water Pollution and Water Treatment)

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21 pages, 19907 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Water Quality Simulation in the Bois River, Goiás, Central Brazil

by Samara Soares, Joel Vasco and Paulo Scalize

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3828; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043828 - 20 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1332

Abstract

The Cerrado is a hotspot for biodiversity conservation and holds the headwater springs that are major Brazilian river basins. The development of industry, agriculture, and mining causes water quality deterioration. Mathematical models appear as a management tool to simulate water quality parameters and the dispersion of pollutants in water bodies. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the behavior of dissolved oxygen (DO) and other parameters through the QUAL2Kw (Stream Water Quality Model) model in a river in the Brazilian Cerrado. Complementary data were obtained in four experimental measurement campaigns. The calibration results showed a good fit, especially for the DO. The most critical situation occurred in October, where DO remained below 5 mg/L for a long stretch, and the ammoniacal nitrogen (NH₄) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) presented non-compliance concerning the legal Brazilian requirements. In all campaigns, BOD remained above 5 mg/L for at least 5 km in length, disagreeing with the legislation for exceeding the distance from the mixing zone. The uncertainty analysis for the DO confirmed the critical scenario of October, and the sensitivity analysis by the Monte Carlo Simulation showed the significance of the reaeration coefficient for DO. Thus, it is concluded that the QUAL2Kw model proved dependable for the simulation of point launches in the Bois River, supplying a good fit in the calibration act. Because BOD does not meet the legal requirements in all samplings, the water use of the downstream population may be impaired by the activities found in the basin. Activities such as sand extraction, tanneries, and other food industries increase the organic burden of waterbodies and, therefore, require greater environmental inspections. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Analysis of Water Pollution and Water Treatment)

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16 pages, 4703 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Contamination Predictive Model for Escherichia coli in Rural Communities Dug Shallow Wells

by Hítalo Tobias Lôbo Lopes, Luis Rodrigo Fernandes Baumann and Paulo Sérgio Scalize

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2408; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032408 - 29 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1542

Abstract

In Brazilian rural communities, the lack of treated water leads their residents to seek individual and alternative solutions, in which dug shallow wells (DSW) are quite widespread. However, water quality may not be fitted for human consumption. For this reason, the current study aimed to predict the contamination of DSW water in rural communities in the Brazilian state of Goiás. For this, secondary data related to water quality, the distance to possible contamination sources, structural conditions, and local geology were evaluated. Therefore, a generalized linear model was applied, and its predictors were evaluated by stepwise methods (Akaike information criterion—AIC and Bayesian information criterion—BIC), generating an intermediate model. After the analysis, turbidity parameter was chosen to be removed resulting in a final, submitted to leave-one-out cross-validation method, and its performance was measured by a confusion matrix. The final model resulted in four predictive variables: well diameter, contour paving width, poultry, and swine husbandry existence. The model accuracy was 82.61%, with a true positive predictor of 82.18% and a negative predictor of 85.71%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Analysis of Water Pollution and Water Treatment)

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20 pages, 3971 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coupling Hydrological and Hydrodynamic Models for Assessing the Impact of Water Pollution on Lake Evaporation

by Janine Brandão de Farias Mesquita and Iran Eduardo Lima Neto

Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13465; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013465 - 19 Oct 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1405

Abstract

The present study evaluated the impact of hydrological variability on the hydrodynamics of an urban lake in Brazil, considering water quality dynamics and its effects on evaporation. The Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) was applied to the lake basin, and the two-dimensional model CE-QUAL-W2 was used to simulate the hydrodynamics and lake evaporation. The two models were coupled to carry out the integrated basin-lake modeling. Then, two water quality models were applied: a transient complete mixing model and an empirical model based on wind speed. Time series of total phosphorus (TP) were generated, and empirical correlations between TP and hydrological variables were proposed. Modeled TP and measured biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) were correlated with monthly Class A pan coefficients (K) adjusted for the lake. The K-values were negatively correlated with TP modeled by the complete mixing model (R² = 0.76) and the empirical model (R² = 0.52), as well as by BOD measurements (R² = 0.85). This indicates that water pollution attenuates evaporation rates. Scenarios of lake pollution and level reduction due to evaporation were also analyzed. The results from this study are important to improve the management of lakes and reservoirs by including the impact of pollution on the water balance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Analysis of Water Pollution and Water Treatment)

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16 pages, 2441 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Physicochemical Characterization and Assessment of Magnitude of Pollution to Contribute to Water Sustainability

by Ougrad Ihsane, Elassassi Zahra, Rezouki Sanae, Elbouch Mohammed, Mohammed Bourhia, Gomaa A. M. Ali, Lahcen Ouahmane, Ahmad M. Salamatullah, Mourad A. M. Aboul-Soud, John P. Giesy and Fadli Mohamed

Sustainability 2022, 14(11), 6689; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116689 - 30 May 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1632

Abstract

As in many countries worldwide, deterioration of quality of water in Morocco’s natural reserves continues, such that an inventory of qualities of these reserves has become necessary. Based on statistical analyses of the data collected by measuring nineteen physicochemical variables, and applying an index, the comprehensive pollution index, to those data, the quality of the waters of Lake Dayat Roumi, Morocco, were assessed. Waters of the lake are currently characterized by a salinity of 921.7 mg Cl⁻/L and 124.2 mg sulfates/L. The concentration of chloride exceeds the value indicated in the standard norms. This can affect the composition of the sediment, overlying water, and specific composition of biota in the lake. Status and trends of values of other parameters also indicate deterioration of water quality in this lake. Multivariate statistical analysis made it possible to differentiate four clusters of samples according to their physicochemical characteristics. These groups are due to inputs from three sources of materials: leaching of rocks from the watershed and plantations, discharge of domestic wastewater and runoff water. Samples taken from deeper parts of the lake indicate a depression of concentrations of dissolved oxygen during the hot season. The analysis results demonstrate the heterogeneous degradation of the water quality in the peripheral areas and deep parts of the lake, favored by the leaching of soils by rainwater, which, when sufficiently severe, can cause repeated mortalities of fishes. This situation requires regular water quality monitoring to develop a management plan for restoration of water quality in the lake to preserve valued ecological services. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Analysis of Water Pollution and Water Treatment)

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Review

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21 pages, 2731 KiB

Open AccessReview

Environmental Variables Related to Aedes aegypti Breeding Spots and the Occurrence of Arbovirus Diseases

by Adivânia Cardoso da Silva and Paulo Sérgio Scalize

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8148; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108148 - 17 May 2023

Viewed by 1627

Abstract

Outbreaks of dengue fever, Zika and chikungunya are realities that manifest themselves in almost the entire world. These are diseases whose main vector is Aedes aegypti. This is a synanthropic that needs three factors in order to survive: water, food, and shelter, which are available under favorable socio-environmental conditions. The goal of this work was to identify and evaluate the pertinence of environmental variables that can allow the growth of Aedes aegypti breeding spots and the eventual increase of dengue fever, Zika and chikungunya in rural areas. A systematic literature review was conducted by searching for works published in bibliometric databases, and the results were analyzed in qualitative and quantitative forms (statistical analysis). This search found 1007 works, of which 50 were considered pertinent to the subject. Each work was analyzed individually, and 16 distinct variables were found to be relevant and were afterward grouped into three categories: sanitation (SAN), climatology (CLIM) and socio-environmental factors, which are named “integrative” (INT) variables. The use of two or more categories was present in 52% of the works, highlighting the SAN + INT combination. Around 16% of the works have included rural areas, relating the arbovirus diseases in these regions to socio-economic and sanitation conditions. The paper analyses the impact of water characteristics on the growth of the mosquito, as well as on the increase of the three diseases. The monitoring of these 16 variables may allow for better arbovirus disease control and could be integrated into entomological vigilance programs for helping make decision processes concerning the prevention of diseases associated with water. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Analysis of Water Pollution and Water Treatment)

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20 pages, 3857 KiB

Open AccessReview

Application of Electrocoagulation for the Removal of Transition Metals in Water

by Tales Aguiar, Luis Baumann, Antonio Albuquerque, Luiza Teixeira, Eric de Souza Gil and Paulo Scalize

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1492; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021492 - 12 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2098

Abstract

Urban and industrial effluents, stormwater, road runoff, agricultural runoff, urban or mine waste deposits and fuel storage sites can lead to the contamination of water sources with compounds that are hard to biodegrade, such as heavy metals, whose removal requires advanced and expensive technologies. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the UN and the current requirements in terms of energy efficiency, reduction of carbon emissions, water reuse, waste valorization and preservation of public health, have led to a rethink concerning the typology of technologies for the treatment of water and the production of drinking water. Electrocoagulation (EC) stands out in this scenario due to its high efficiency in the removal of several pollutants, production of low sludge volumes and adaptability to the use of renewable energies. This is in addition to the ease with which it can be combined with other water treatment technologies. This work presents a literature review to systematize the use of EC for the removal of transition metals in water to produce drinking water, since these elements are present in several natural water sources and are parameters used in the legislation of many countries for the quality control of drinking water. The works found were analyzed in detail, and relationships between pre-set variables and categories were determined through regression analysis. Generally, it was found that EC is a highly efficient technology for the removal of transition metals in water (above 75% for most metals), specifically through parallel plates technologies with iron and aluminum electrodes with a minimum spacing of 1 cm and density minimum applied current of 10 A/m². Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Analysis of Water Pollution and Water Treatment)

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