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Wastewater Treatment and Sustainability of Development
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Wastewater Treatment and Sustainability of Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 15781

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Matia Mainardis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department Polytechnic of Engineering and Architecture (DPIA), University of Udine, Udine, Italy
Interests: anaerobic digestion; life cycle assessment; wastewater treatment and reuse; advanced oxidation processes; sludge characterization and treatment; mathematical modelling; organic waste treatment; energy and resource recovery
Dr. Arianna Catenacci

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA), Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: anaerobic digestion; wastewater treatment processes; mathematical modelling; organic waste treatment; energy and resource recovery
Dr. Fabiano Asunis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di ingegneria meccanica, chimica e dei materiali, Università degli studi di Cagliari, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Interests: biowaste valorization; biorefinery; anaerobic digestion; biopolymer production; wastewater treatment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wastewater treatment is currently undergoing a paradigm shift under sustainability and circular economy visions: a transition from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), i.e., facilities aimed at pollutant removal, into water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs), i.e., integrated systems for energy and value-added product recovery, is being more and more encouraged at all levels, from academia to policymakers. Climate change, population growth, freshwater scarcity, fossil fuel consumption and conventional fertiliser depletion are accelerating this transition. Biogas and solar photovoltaic contributions to the energy demand of WWTPs can reduce overall energy expenses, potentially leading to energy-neutral (or even energy-positive) plants. The recovery of carbonaceous substrates and nutrients is a sustainable approach for wastewater management, given the strict discharge requirements and shortages existing in the supply of mineral nutrients. Moreover, the reuse of treated water can alleviate freshwater scarcity issues in areas subject to severe drought. This virtuous paradigm shift will lead to the development of so-called biorefineries, providing valuable products and clean energy from organic feedstocks (wastewater and sludge). However, versatile and robust solutions must be developed to cope with local factors, and flexibility is of crucial relevance to foster the implementation of such technologies in developed and developing countries, as well as in rural and centralised communities.

This Special Issue aims to collect and share innovative solutions to promote the new WRRF paradigm among researchers, water utilities, operators and all involved stakeholders. In particular, the submission of scientific works related, but not limited, to the following topics is strongly encouraged:

  • Promising experimental studies related to the recovery of nutrients, valuable compounds, renewable energy and water for reuse, according to sustainability principles;
  • Pilot-scale tests and/or commercial installations, broadly analysing all involved aspects of (techno-economic, environmental and social ones) and potential effects on existing WWTPs, with the proposal of standardised procedures for comparing different technologies or processes;
  • Modelling and digital process optimisation techniques for WWTP management.

We therefore invite the contribution of research articles, case studies and review articles to this Special Issue to boost a virtuous paradigm shift of wastewater treatment plants into sustainable biorefinery platforms, and to point out key aspects and potential areas for improvements where additional research is needed, as a baseline for future developments in the direction of more sustainable plants.

Dr. Matia Mainardis
Dr. Arianna Catenacci
Dr. Fabiano Asunis
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. 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

  • water resource recovery facilities
  • nutrient recovery
  • energy recovery
  • wastewater treatment
  • wastewater reuse
  • mathematical modelling

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1733 KiB  
Article
Sustainable and Safe Treatment of Wastewater of Paint Industry Using Azadarachta indica Leaf Extract Combined with Silver Nitrate Solution
by Muhammad Atif Irshad, Basharat Ali, Ali Irfan, Sami A. Al-Hussain, Rab Nawaz, Iqra Nasim, Maria Latif and Magdi E. A. Zaki
Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3592; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043592 - 15 Feb 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2268
Abstract
This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a combined green and synthetic solution for the sustainable treatment of wastewater from the paint industry. Effluent was treated with a natural plant extract (Azadarachta indica) and a silver nitrate solution (AgNO [...] Read more.
This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a combined green and synthetic solution for the sustainable treatment of wastewater from the paint industry. Effluent was treated with a natural plant extract (Azadarachta indica) and a silver nitrate solution (AgNO3). Three composite samples of wastewater were collected from the paint industry, transferred to the laboratory for analysis, and three case studies were applied for treatment. The parameters of the treated water were compared with the Punjab Environmental Quality Standards (PEQS). Case 1 was a control treatment in which discharged industrial effluent was collected and analyzed for various pollutants (pH, COD, TDS, TSS, and BOD). All the target parameters were higher than the limits in the PEQS. In Case 2, the wastewater was treated by reaction with an A. indica solution for a 4 to 72 h retention time. Some pollutants were remediated as a result of the reaction, while the majority of pollutants required a longer retention time and a higher concentration of A. indica extract, making this case applicable for the treatment of wastewater. In Case 3, the discharged industrial effluent was reacted with A. indica solution combined with AgNO3 solution for wastewater treatment with a 4 to 72 h retention time; after reaction, all the pollutants were remediated at high pH of 12 at a retention time of 24 h. However, a longer retention time and a better solution are required for the treatment of priority pollutants. However, Case 3 treated more pollutants, so was far superior to Cases 1 and 2. As a result, this instance is suitable for the treatment of wastewater from the paint industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Sustainability of Development)
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12 pages, 1339 KiB  
Article
The Elimination of Pharmaceutical Agents with Microbiological Treatment from Municipal Sewage
by Gábor Tóth, Zoltán Veres, Gyula Lakatos and Sándor Balázsy
Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 2991; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15042991 - 07 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1229
Abstract
Pharmaceutical agents accumulate in wastewater after consumption, but the conventional sewage treatment process is unable to remove them completely. The occurrence of certain compounds in the environment brings forth serious problems even at low concentrations. In this study, the microbiological elimination ability of [...] Read more.
Pharmaceutical agents accumulate in wastewater after consumption, but the conventional sewage treatment process is unable to remove them completely. The occurrence of certain compounds in the environment brings forth serious problems even at low concentrations. In this study, the microbiological elimination ability of four non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)—ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen and diclofenac—were investigated under laboratory, pilot and plant conditions. Mixed cultures from environmental matrices presumably have the ability to reduce the concentration of target agents effectively. According to our analytical measurements, certain mixed cultures gained from natural habitats were even capable of reducing the amount of diclofenac efficiently, after being enriched to a 109 colony-forming unit—CFU/mL scale, and inoculated in adequate quantity. Target NSAIDs were detected at µg/L levels in both influents and effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The results showed that inoculated conventional activated sludge sewage treatment technologies have high efficiency for removing ibuprofen, ketoprofen and naproxen. The diclofenac-specific bacteria mix exhibited mild but positive removal efficiency compared to the control plant. This removal ability is also influenced by the hydraulic retention time (HRT). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Sustainability of Development)
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17 pages, 1657 KiB  
Article
Improved Recovery of Overloaded Anaerobic Batch Reactors by Graphene Oxide
by Michele Ponzelli, Hiep Nguyen, Jörg E. Drewes and Konrad Koch
Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2224; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032224 - 25 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1419
Abstract
Anaerobic digestion reactors may suffer from acidification when overloading occurs. Carbon-based materials are amended to mitigate the souring effects of excessive loading. This study aims to test if graphene oxide (GO) helps overloaded anaerobic reactors recover faster. Batch tests were conducted following a [...] Read more.
Anaerobic digestion reactors may suffer from acidification when overloading occurs. Carbon-based materials are amended to mitigate the souring effects of excessive loading. This study aims to test if graphene oxide (GO) helps overloaded anaerobic reactors recover faster. Batch tests were conducted following a fed-batch strategy at different GO levels (0, 10, and 20 mg GO per g of volatile solid (VS)) and different inoculum substrate ratios (ISRs) of 2, 1, and 0.75 based on VS. While an ISR of 2 was initially applied, the ISR was decreased to 1 and 0.75 in two parallel sets of experiments to simulate overloading conditions at the fourth feeding cycle. Lastly, an ISR of 2 was restored in all assays. First-order model kinetic constants confirmed a significant (p < 0.05) effect by GO from the third feed on. Although the GO-amended assays did not alleviate the acidification effects, during the final phase the kinetic constants reached values similar to or even above the controls (without GO). Moreover, a GO concentration up to 20 mgGO/gVS had no impact on FOS/TAC. Overall, this study broadens the understanding of the design and operation of anaerobic reactors amended with GO. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Sustainability of Development)
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21 pages, 2525 KiB  
Article
Waste Heat Driven Integrated Membrane Distillation for Concentrating Nutrients and Process Water Recovery at a Thermophilic Biogas Plant
by Ershad Ullah Khan, Åke Nordberg and Peter Malmros
Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13535; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013535 - 19 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1977
Abstract
To efficiently utilize low-concentrate digestate nutrients, further treatment is needed to decrease their volume, recover process water, and increase nutrient concentrations. Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven process that is advantageous due to its ability to harness low-grade waste heat to treat [...] Read more.
To efficiently utilize low-concentrate digestate nutrients, further treatment is needed to decrease their volume, recover process water, and increase nutrient concentrations. Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven process that is advantageous due to its ability to harness low-grade waste heat to treat highly complex wastewater streams. This study assessed the techno-economic performance of integrating MD for two-fold concentrations of nutrients and the recovery of process water from digestate at a thermophilic biogas plant. Thermal assessment showed that the recovered waste heat from flue gas and digestate fully met the thermal energy demand of MD and saved 20% of boiler energy by heating incoming slurry. The permeate flux from MD was 3.5 L/(m2h) and 3.1 L/(m2h) at 66 °C and 61 °C digestate inlet temperatures during winter and summer, respectively. With internal heat recovery, the specific heat demand for MD was 80 kWh/m3 and 100 kWh/m3 in winter and summer, respectively. The unit cost of MD permeate was estimated to be 3.6 €/m3 and 4.1 €/m3 at a digestate feed temperature of 66 °C and 61 °C (with heat recovery), and 7.6 €/m3 and 9.1 €/m3 (without heat recovery) in winter and summer, respectively. However, cost sensitivity analyses showed that waste heat recovery and thermal energy cost variations had a significant impact on the MD permeate production cost. Nevertheless, the economic assessment indicated that the thermal integration of a biogas plant with industrial-scale MD digestate treatment capacity could be economically feasible, with winter being more economically favorable due to higher waste heat recovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Sustainability of Development)
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18 pages, 3876 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Alternatives for Tertiary Treatment of Pulp and Paper Wastewater
by Matia Mainardis, Silvia Mulloni, Arianna Catenacci, Maila Danielis, Erika Furlani, Stefano Maschio and Daniele Goi
Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 6047; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106047 - 16 May 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2256
Abstract
In this work, different alternatives to conventional tertiary treatment of pulp and paper (P&P) wastewater (WW), i.e., physicochemical coagulation-flocculation, were investigated to enhance the environmental and economic sustainability of industrial wastewater treatment. In particular, following a preliminary characterization of secondary effluents, cloth filtration [...] Read more.
In this work, different alternatives to conventional tertiary treatment of pulp and paper (P&P) wastewater (WW), i.e., physicochemical coagulation-flocculation, were investigated to enhance the environmental and economic sustainability of industrial wastewater treatment. In particular, following a preliminary characterization of secondary effluents, cloth filtration and adsorption were studied, the former by pilot-scale tests, while the latter at laboratory scale. An economic analysis was finally accomplished to verify the full-scale applicability of the most promising technologies. Cloth filtration showed excellent total suspended solids (TSS) removal efficiency (mean 81% removal) but a very limited influence on chemical oxygen demand (COD) (mean 10% removal) due to the prevalence of soluble COD on particulate COD. Adsorption, instead, led to a good COD removal efficiency (50% abatement at powdered activated carbon—PAC—dosage of 400 mg/L). The economic analysis proved that adsorption would be convenient only if a local low-cost (100 €/ton) adsorbent supply chain was established. Ultrafiltration was considered as well as a potential alternative: its huge capital cost (19 M€) could be recovered in a relatively short timeframe (pay-back time of 4.7 years) if the ultrafiltrated effluent could be sold to local industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Sustainability of Development)
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Graphical abstract

19 pages, 2605 KiB  
Article
Production and Characterization of Polyhydroxyalkanoates from Wastewater via Mixed Microbial Cultures and Microalgae
by Simone Bagatella, Riccardo Ciapponi, Elena Ficara, Nicola Frison and Stefano Turri
Sustainability 2022, 14(6), 3704; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063704 - 21 Mar 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3478
Abstract
In the context of circular economy and sustainable production of materials, this project investigated the feasibility of producing sustainable polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from microalgae and sludge used in the treatment of municipal wastewater. The overall process was studied looking at the main steps: microalgae [...] Read more.
In the context of circular economy and sustainable production of materials, this project investigated the feasibility of producing sustainable polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from microalgae and sludge used in the treatment of municipal wastewater. The overall process was studied looking at the main steps: microalgae production, fermentation of the biomass, production and characterization of the PHAs. It was possible to obtain blends of hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate copolymers with high molecular weights and different compositions depending on the nature of the feedstock (mixed volatile fatty acids). In some cases, almost completely amorphous PHA materials were obtained, suggesting a potential diversification of uses and applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Sustainability of Development)
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15 pages, 2491 KiB  
Article
Impact of Wastewater Spreading on Properties of Tunisian Soil under Arid Climate
by Boutheina Gargouri, Samia Ben Brahim, Fatma Marrakchi, Bechir Ben Rouina, Wojciech Kujawski and Mohamed Bouaziz
Sustainability 2022, 14(6), 3177; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063177 - 08 Mar 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1597
Abstract
The environmental impacts of irrigating an olive field with olive mill wastewater (OMW) and treated wastewater (TWW) on soil properties were investigated. The effect of different irrigation treatments of OMW (50 m3 ha−1, 100 m3 ha−1, and [...] Read more.
The environmental impacts of irrigating an olive field with olive mill wastewater (OMW) and treated wastewater (TWW) on soil properties were investigated. The effect of different irrigation treatments of OMW (50 m3 ha−1, 100 m3 ha−1, and 200 m3 ha−1) and TWW at different soil depths was studied. The obtained findings revealed that TWW application augmented soil pH; EC values; and P, K and Ca contents in all soil layers. However, Mg and Na concentrations, as well as organic matter content (OM), were proven to decrease with TWW irrigation throughout the experiment. Whereas soil adjusted with OMW showed a decrease in K, Ca, Mg and Na contents with soil depth, a significant increase was observed with the increase in applied OMW dose. On the other hand, total phenols and OM content increased significantly with the rise in OMW levels in all the investigated layers compared to the control sample. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wastewater Treatment and Sustainability of Development)
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