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Microbial Ecology of Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Systems
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Microbial Ecology of Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Systems

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 June 2020) | Viewed by 20001

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Riku Vahala

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Guest Editor
Aalto University
Interests: water and wastewater engineering; water quality; water treatment; emerging pollutants in wastewater
Prof. Dr. Anna Mikola

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Guest Editor
Water and Wastewater Engineering Research Group, School of Engineering, Aalto University, PO Box 15200, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland
Interests: nutrient removal and recovery; removal of micropollutants and microplastics and control of GHG emissions in municipal wastewater treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Antonina Kruglova

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Guest Editor
Aalto University
Interests: biological wastewater treatment; biodegradation; microbial community of activated sludge; microbial interactions; emerging wastewater micropollutants; antibiotic resistance
Dr. Alejandro Gonzalez-Martinez

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Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
Interests: molecular biology; biotechnology; applied microbiology; next-generation sequencing; biological wastewater treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The rapid development of techniques for the analysis of microbial community structures enables us to better understand many microbial systems (e.g., wastewater treatment processes). These molecular biology-based methods (e.g., studies of DNA, RNA, and proteins) provide a high resolution of information compared to traditional ways of studying wastewater with microscopic examination and culture-based methods. In this way, a comprehensive understanding of qualitative, quantitative, and microorganism population dynamics will improve wastewater treatment efficiency and process stability. Moreover, various bioinformatic tools have been developed to categorize bacterial functions within the systems. The use of these techniques has opened our eyes to the complexity of our full-scale wastewater treatment systems and the variations in time and space, and between geographical regions of their microbial community.

A deeper understanding of microbial community dynamics and microbial interactions provides practical implications, such as sustainable case-specific nutrient removal and emerging pollutants degradation. These topics are closely related with the role of wastewater treatment plants in maintenance of the environmental water quality. One significant issue is the spread of antibiotic resistance due to horizontal gene transfer between pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria in urban wastewater treatment. Such investigations can not only optimize current wastewater treatment processes, but also innovate emerging technologies.

This Special Issue seeks to highlight recent findings demonstrating the strengths, challenges, and opportunities we are facing when we enter the new era of microbial ecology in wastewater treatment engineering.

Prof. Riku Vahala
Dr. Anna Mikola
Dr. Antonina Kruglova
Prof. Alejandro Gonzalez-Martinez
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

  • microbial communities of wastewater
  • activated sludge
  • microbial ecology
  • wastewater genomics
  • biological wastewater treatment
  • biofilm
  • biodegradation
  • nutrient removal
  • micropollutants removal
  • antibiotic resistance
  • microbial population
  • molecular biology
  • full-scale
  • RNA
  • DNA

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3787 KiB  
Article
Low-Temperature Adapted Nitrifying Microbial Communities of Finnish Wastewater Treatment Systems
by Antonina Kruglova, Jenni Kesulahti, Khoi Minh Le, Alejandro Gonzalez-Martinez, Anna Mikola and Riku Vahala
Water 2020, 12(9), 2450; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12092450 - 31 Aug 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2787
Abstract
In this study, the microbial community of nitrifying activated sludge adapted to Finnish climate conditions was studied to clarify the microbial populations involved in low-temperature nitrification. Microbial community analysis of five full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) showed several differences compared to WWTPs from [...] Read more.
In this study, the microbial community of nitrifying activated sludge adapted to Finnish climate conditions was studied to clarify the microbial populations involved in low-temperature nitrification. Microbial community analysis of five full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) showed several differences compared to WWTPs from other countries with a similar climate. In particular, very low abundance of ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOBs) (altogether ˂ 0.25% of total community) as well as typical NOBs (˂0.35%) and a high abundance of orders Cytophagales and Micrococcales was observed in all Finnish WWTPs. To shed light on the importance of autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrifying processes, laboratory studies of activated sludge were carried out with a presence of and a lack of organic carbon in wastewater at 10 ± 1 °C. Two different sludge retention times (SRTs) were compared to determine the effect of this operational parameter on low-temperature nitrogen removal. The important role of previously reported Candidatus Nitrotogaarctica for nitrite oxidizing in cold climate conditions was confirmed in both full-scale and laboratory scale results. Additionally, potential participation of Dokdonella sp. and Flexibacter sp. in nitrogen removal at low-temperatures is proposed. Operation at SRT of 100 days demonstrated more stable and efficient nitrogen removal after a sharp temperature decrease compared to 14 days SRT. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Ecology of Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Systems)
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19 pages, 2122 KiB  
Article
Profile of the Spatial Distribution Patterns of the Human and Bacteriophage Virome in a Wastewater Treatment Plant Located in the South of Spain
by Cristina García-Fontana, Alejandro Rodriguez-Sanchez, Barbara Muñoz-Palazon, Alejandro Gonzalez-Martinez, Maria Vela-Cano and Jesus Gonzalez-Lopez
Water 2020, 12(8), 2316; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12082316 - 18 Aug 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3553
Abstract
In wastewater treatment plants, most microbial characterization has focused on bacterial, archaeal, and fungal populations. Due to the difficult isolation, quantification, and identification of viruses, only a limited number of virome studies associated with wastewater treatment plants have been carried out. However, the [...] Read more.
In wastewater treatment plants, most microbial characterization has focused on bacterial, archaeal, and fungal populations. Due to the difficult isolation, quantification, and identification of viruses, only a limited number of virome studies associated with wastewater treatment plants have been carried out. However, the virus populations play an important role in the microbial dynamics in wastewater treatment systems and the biosafety of effluents. In this work, the viral members present in influent wastewater, mixed liquor (aerobic bioreactor), excess sludge, and effluent water of a conventional activated sludge system for the treatment of urban wastewater were identified. Viral members were observed by transmission electron microscopy and studied through next-generation sequencing studies. The results showed the dominance of bacteriophages in the viral community in all samples, with the dominant viral phylotype classified as Escherichia coli O157 typing phage 7. Moreover, different human viruses, such as Cynomolgus cytomegalovirus and Gammaherpesvirus, were also detected. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Ecology of Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Systems)
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22 pages, 5589 KiB  
Article
New Pond—Indicator Bacteria to Complement Routine Monitoring in a Wet/Dry Tropical Wastewater Stabilization System
by Alea Rose, Anna Padovan, Keith Christian, Mirjam Kaestli, Keith McGuinness, Skefos Tsoukalis and Karen Gibb
Water 2019, 11(11), 2422; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11112422 - 19 Nov 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4012
Abstract
Bacteria monitoring is a critical part of wastewater management. At tropical wastewater stabilization ponds (WSPs) in north Australia, sanitation is assessed using the standard fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) Escherichia coli and Enterococci. However, these bacteria are poor surrogates for enteric pathogens. A [...] Read more.
Bacteria monitoring is a critical part of wastewater management. At tropical wastewater stabilization ponds (WSPs) in north Australia, sanitation is assessed using the standard fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) Escherichia coli and Enterococci. However, these bacteria are poor surrogates for enteric pathogens. A focus on FIB misses the majority of pond-bacteria and how they respond to the tropical environment. Therefore, we aimed to identify the unknown pond bacteria and indicators that can complement E. coli to improve monitoring. Over two years, we measured the bacterial community in 288 wastewater samples during the wet and dry seasons. The WSP community was spatially and temporally dynamic. Standard pond-water physicochemical measures like conductivity poorly explained these community shifts. Cyanobacteria represented >6% of the WSP bacterial population, regardless of sample timing and location. Fecal bacteria were abundant in the first pond. However, in downstream ponds, these bacteria were less abundant, and instead, environmental taxa were common. For each pond, we identified a bacterial fingerprint that included new candidate bacterial indicators of fecal waste and processes like nitrogen removal. Combining the new indicators with standard FIB monitoring represents a locally relevant approach to wastewater monitoring that facilitates new tests for human fecal pollution within tropical climates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Ecology of Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Systems)
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15 pages, 2368 KiB  
Article
Scale up of Microbial Fuel Cell Stack System for Residential Wastewater Treatment in Continuous Mode Operation
by Rodrigo Valladares Linares, Jorge Domínguez-Maldonado, Ernesto Rodríguez-Leal, Gabriel Patrón, Alfonso Castillo-Hernández, Alfredo Miranda, Diana Diaz Romero, Rodrigo Moreno-Cervera, Gerardo Camara-chale, Carlos G. Borroto and Liliana Alzate-Gaviria
Water 2019, 11(2), 217; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11020217 - 28 Jan 2019
Cited by 65 | Viewed by 8653
Abstract
The most important operational expense during wastewater treatment is electricity for pumping and aeration. Therefore, this work evaluated operational parameters and contaminant removal efficiency of a microbial fuel cell stack system (MFCSS) that uses no electricity. This system consists of (i) septic tank [...] Read more.
The most important operational expense during wastewater treatment is electricity for pumping and aeration. Therefore, this work evaluated operational parameters and contaminant removal efficiency of a microbial fuel cell stack system (MFCSS) that uses no electricity. This system consists of (i) septic tank primary treatment, (ii) chamber for secondary treatment containing 18 MFCs, coupled to an energy-harvesting circuit (EHC) that stores the electrons produced by anaerobic respiration, and (iii) gravity-driven disinfection (sodium hypochlorite 5%). The MFCSS operated during 60 days (after stabilization period) and it was gravity-fed with real domestic wastewater from a house (5 inhabitants). The flow rate was 600 ± 100 L∙d−1. The chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, total nitrogen and total phosphorous were measured in effluent, with values of 100 ± 10; 12 ± 2; 9.6 ± 0.5 and 4 ± 0.2 mg∙L−1, and removal values of 86%, 87%, 84% and 64%, respectively. Likewise, an EHC (ultra-low energy consumption) was built with 6.3 V UCC® 4700 µF capacitors that harvested and stored energy from MFCs in parallel. Energy management was programmed on a microcontroller Atmega 328PB®. The water quality of the treated effluent complied with the maximum levels set by the Mexican Official Standard NOM-001-SEMARNAT-1996-C. A cost analysis showed that MFCSS could be competitive as a sustainable and energy-efficient technology for real domestic wastewater treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Ecology of Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Systems)
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