Urban Drainage, Wastewater Treatment and Pollution Control

Dear Colleagues, 

Urban drainage, comprising municipal and industrial wastewater and storm water, presents a set of environmental challenges, including the need for cost-effective and socially acceptable technical improvements in existing systems, the need for assessment of their impacts on the environment, and the need to search for sustainable and resilient solutions.

A philosophy for water engineering in which drainage and water use are considered holistically, considering their impacts on the natural and urban environments, is needed. Rainwater harvesting and stormwater management using natural solutions in one part of the city, while using more traditional approaches with sewer systems in other urban areas, has proven effective. Recent innovations and developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs) are also providing new perspectives towards a more dynamic, real-time and “wise” management of urban drainage systems.

On the other hand, traditional methods of wastewater treatment become increasingly challenged with the identification of more emergent contaminants, rapid population growth, increasing industrial activities and the depletion of freshwater sources. Conventional treatment processes successfully remove organic matter, chemical and microbial contaminants from wastewater. However, the effectiveness of these processes has become limited over the last several decades as new challenges arise. The enhanced knowledge about polluted wastewater discharge consequences is resulting in much stricter regulations, both increasing the scope of regulated contaminants and adopting more restrictive wastewater discharge standards.

Furthermore, the reuse of wastewaters and the recovery of potential pollutants are becoming more relevant. This is especially important in dry areas, where local drinking water sources are limited. Advanced treatment technologies are required to remove several potentially harmful compounds that cannot be effectively removed by conventional treatment processes.

To address these new challenges, a variety of new wastewater treatment technologies have emerged, such as membrane filtration systems, automatic variable filtration (AVF), and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). These new treatment technologies have been proven to successfully remove a wide range of challenging contaminants from wastewater.

New treatment processes with resources recovery, along with the integration of urban water and wastewater management systems, will improve the sustainability of water resources and might contribute significantly to reducing surface and groundwater abstraction. The energy consumption in treatment plants also requires active management so that the entire process is efficient and effective. Technologies to meet these challenges already exist, and there are ongoing efforts to improve and integrate them so that urban drainage and wastewater systems become more sustainable.

This Special Issue aims to expand the present knowledge related to urban drainage, wastewater treatment and pollution control. Innovative research on technologies and methodological approaches are welcomed. The discussion of case studies and experimental works is encouraged.

Dr. José Saldanha Matos
Dr. Rita Salgado Brito
Dr. Filipa Maria Santos Ferreira
Guest Editors

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• nature-based solutions
• sewer systems and processes
• sustainable systems
• urban drainage
• urban resilience and climate change
• wastewater treatment