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Advances in Biological Technologies for Wastewater Treatment
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Advances in Biological Technologies for Wastewater Treatment

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 March 2025 | Viewed by 7076

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jingqing Gao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Ecology and Environment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Interests: wastewater treatment; environmental remediation; constructed wetlands; environmental management; environmental biology
Dr. Panpan Liu

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
School of Ecology and Environment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Interests: bioenergy; regenerative fuel cells; bioelectricity; microbial electrochemical technology; low-carbon treatment technology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The process of wastewater treatment ensures the preservation of safe and reliable water resources and is, consequently, indispensable for safeguarding public health, environmental integrity, and global economic stability as well as fostering pathways towards sustainable development. Biological technologies have long been integral to wastewater treatment and have become intertwined with considerations of treatment efficacy, financial investment, energy requirements, operational flexibility, and environmental impact. Recent efforts have focused on exploring novel biological technologies to enhance wastewater treatment; however, the challenge lies in reconciling treatment effectiveness with sustainable development goals to eliminate contaminants from wastewater, utilize renewable energy sources, and adhere to increasingly stringent regulatory standards.

This Special Issue of Water aims to disseminate cutting-edge research on the contemporary application of biological technologies in wastewater treatment and, by doing so, seeks to boost the performance of wastewater treatment while simultaneously reducing costs through potential nutrient and/or energy recovery. Authors are encouraged to contribute original research and new insights on advances in this important field.

Prof. Dr. Jingqing Gao
Dr. Panpan Liu
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

  • wastewater treatment
  • biological technologies
  • nutrient recovery
  • environmental microbiology
  • hydrophytes
  • emerging contaminants
  • carbon neutrality

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1330 KiB  
Article
Contaminated Characteristics Variation in Different Aquaculture Modes: A Case Study in Northern China
by Jingqing Gao, Yuang Fu, Kexin Lu, Jie Li, Shaofeng Yan, Chi Liu and Yu Shen
Water 2025, 17(2), 200; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17020200 - 13 Jan 2025
Viewed by 580
Abstract
Various aquaculture modes have been developed to satisfy the growing demands of aquatic products. The contaminated characteristics may distribute along with the aquaculture modes, threatening the ecological environment to varying degrees. Herein, the five most common aquaculture modes (small-scale intensive mode, extensive free-range [...] Read more.
Various aquaculture modes have been developed to satisfy the growing demands of aquatic products. The contaminated characteristics may distribute along with the aquaculture modes, threatening the ecological environment to varying degrees. Herein, the five most common aquaculture modes (small-scale intensive mode, extensive free-range mode, concentrated contiguous mode, funnel-type mode, and recirculating aquaculture system) were selected to study the contaminated characteristics (including nine kinds of water quality parameters and eight kinds of antibiotics) in Henan Province, a province in northern China, and analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem secondary mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS). The funnel-type mode, as a unique mode developed in Henan Province, appears highest in nutrient content, wherein TN and TP concentrations reach 29.28 mg/L and 2.20 mg/L, respectively. The small-scale intensive mode has the highest average antibiotic concentration in five different aquaculture modes, with a concentration of 502 ng/L. Overall, the most abundant antibiotic was quinolones (QNs), followed by sulfonamides (SAs), chloramphenicols (CAs), and tetracyclines (TCs). Pearson correlation analysis showed that ENR had a strong positive correlation with TN, TP, and Zn, indicating the enrofloxacin (ENR) may have existed as the addictive in aquaculture feed. Moreover, the risk quotient (RQ) analysis indicated that ENR posed a medium to high risk, highlighting the importance of antibiotics man-agement in aquaculture. This work provides theoretical guidance for the formulation of aquaculture water pollutant control of different aquaculture modes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biological Technologies for Wastewater Treatment)
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14 pages, 2214 KiB  
Article
Rapid Treatment of Urban Initial Rainwater Runoff by A/O–Magnetic Flocculation Combined Process
by Shaofeng Yan, Mingzhe Lv, Yingke Fang, Jie Li, Hongbin Xu, Guoqiang Li, Long Huang, Yuan Li and Gangfu Song
Water 2024, 16(23), 3392; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16233392 - 25 Nov 2024
Viewed by 479
Abstract
The acceleration of urbanization with the increased proportion of impermeable surfaces has posed significant challenges for old urban drainage systems, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall. Urban initial rainwater runoff pollution, containing a considerable quantity of pollutants, has severely contaminated the urban water [...] Read more.
The acceleration of urbanization with the increased proportion of impermeable surfaces has posed significant challenges for old urban drainage systems, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall. Urban initial rainwater runoff pollution, containing a considerable quantity of pollutants, has severely contaminated the urban water environment. The present study presented an A/O–magnetic flocculation (A/O-MF) process for the rapid treatment of urban initial rainwater runoff pollution to realize the simultaneous removal of NH4+-N, TN, COD, TP, and SSs. The optimal operation parameters were obtained by the single-factor and orthogonal methods. The results showed that the optimal operation duration of the A/O process was 10 min for the anoxic process and 60 min for the aerobic process. The optimal dosages of the flocculants were 105 mg/L for PAC, 3 mg/L for PAM, and 30 mg/L for Fe3O4 with a sedimentation time of 2 min. To treat the actual runoff rainwater, the A/O-MF process improved the removal efficiencies of TP, SSs, NH4+-N, and COD compared with the single A/O process, with efficiencies of 99.5%, 93.3%, 99.7%, and 91.3%, respectively. The total operation duration was only 74 min, which could enable the rapid and efficient treatment of urban runoff rainwater. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biological Technologies for Wastewater Treatment)
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16 pages, 4027 KiB  
Article
The Characteristics and Traceability Analysis of the Overflow Pollution During the Flood Season in an Urban Area
by Shaofeng Yan, Hongbin Xu, Yingke Fang, Jie Li, Mingzhe Lv, Guoqiang Li, Long Huang, Yuan Li and Gangfu Song
Water 2024, 16(22), 3159; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16223159 - 5 Nov 2024
Viewed by 894
Abstract
The issue of combined sewer overflow (CSO) triggered by rainfall has become a significant obstacle to the improvement of water environment quality. This study conducted a long-term monitoring of three types of rainwater outlets, i.e., combined sewer overflows (Test-CSO), separated sewer outlets (Test-SSO), [...] Read more.
The issue of combined sewer overflow (CSO) triggered by rainfall has become a significant obstacle to the improvement of water environment quality. This study conducted a long-term monitoring of three types of rainwater outlets, i.e., combined sewer overflows (Test-CSO), separated sewer outlets (Test-SSO), and partially separated sewer outlets (Test-PSSO), to reveal the characteristics of overflow pollution and trace its sources by monitoring the pollutants from different underlying surfaces across various urban functional areas. The results showed that the major pollutants in overflow events exhibited the following order: COD ≥ TSS > TN > TAN > TP. Rainwater elevated COD and TSS in the Test-CSO, while reducing nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations by dilution. The Test-PSSO experienced varying degrees of overflow pollution, primarily due to the sewer sediment. A negative relationship between the rainfall and peak time of overflow pollution was observed. The traceability analysis indicated the overall pollution intensity exhibited the following order: residential areas > industrial parks > commercial areas. In addition to commercial areas, the pollution intensity across underlying surfaces generally exhibited the following order: roofs > roads > grasslands. The roof runoff was an important source of pollutants for overflow pollution, and TSS and COD were the major contributors. Notably, grasslands had a buffering effect on pollutants and pH. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biological Technologies for Wastewater Treatment)
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19 pages, 1686 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Integrated Anaerobic/Aerobic Conditions for Treating Dye-Rich Synthetic and Real Textile Wastewater Using a Soda Lake Derived Alkaliphilic Microbial Consortia
by Tadele Assefa Aragaw, Carolina Suarez, Catherine J. Paul and Addis Simachew
Water 2024, 16(20), 2937; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16202937 - 15 Oct 2024
Viewed by 956
Abstract
Textile industry wastewater (WW) has intense color, high chemical oxygen demand (COD), pH, and salinity, making it challenging for conventional treatment. Soda lakes, with high alkalinity and salinity, host diverse microbes capable of textile dye degradation. This study evaluated anaerobic/aerobic reactors using alkaliphilic [...] Read more.
Textile industry wastewater (WW) has intense color, high chemical oxygen demand (COD), pH, and salinity, making it challenging for conventional treatment. Soda lakes, with high alkalinity and salinity, host diverse microbes capable of textile dye degradation. This study evaluated anaerobic/aerobic reactors using alkaliphilic microbial consortia from Lake Chitu, an Ethiopian soda lake, for treating synthetic and real textile WW. The experimental setup consisted of a first-stage anaerobic reactor followed by a second-stage aerobic reactor, operating continuously with a predetermined flow rate and hydraulic residence time. After evaluating synthetic WW, real textile WW was collected in two batches (rounds I and II). The treatment setup removed 99% of the dye color for synthetic WW, 98% for round I, and 96% for round II. COD removal was 87% for synthetic WW, 86% for round I, and 93.37% for round II. TKN removal reached 90% for synthetic WW, 91% for round I, and 96% for round II at a steady state. Residual COD and TKN values met the final effluent discharge standards. GC–MS and IR analyses revealed that dyes were broken down into intermediate organic compounds under anaerobic conditions and further degraded into smaller molecules under aerobic conditions. This integrated reactor approach effectively removes dyes and enhances COD and TKN removal. The study’s novelty lies in evaluating both synthetic and real textile WW using integrated reactors under alkaline conditions in a continuous process, inoculating alkaliphilic consortia, without pre-enrichment or external nutrient addition to real WW. The study provides insights into the effectiveness of alkaliphilic microbial consortia derived from soda lakes for treating textile WW using integrated reactor conditions. Reactor microbiome characterization is needed to further explore microbial diversity and community structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biological Technologies for Wastewater Treatment)
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25 pages, 10411 KiB  
Article
Low Strength Wastewater Treatment Using a Combined Biological Aerated Filter/Anammox Process
by Wanying Xie, Ji Li, Tao Song, Yong Li, Zhenlin Wang and Xiaolei Zhang
Water 2024, 16(19), 2821; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16192821 - 4 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1144
Abstract
To achieve the in situ capacity expansion of the post-denitrification biological aerated filter (BAF-DN), the integration of BAF with the anammox process (BAF/AX) was proposed. With the objective of maximizing retaining ammonia nitrogen, the operational optimization of BAF was achieved by two distinct [...] Read more.
To achieve the in situ capacity expansion of the post-denitrification biological aerated filter (BAF-DN), the integration of BAF with the anammox process (BAF/AX) was proposed. With the objective of maximizing retaining ammonia nitrogen, the operational optimization of BAF was achieved by two distinct strategies. The treatment performance of BAF demonstrated that the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) was 66.3~67.3% and 4~12%, respectively, under conditions of low aeration intensity (0.4 m3·m−2·h−1) or a shortened empty bed residence time (EBRT) of 30 min. Residual NH4+-N in the BAF effluent served as the ammonia substrate for the subsequent anammox process, which was successfully launched by using ceramic particles and sponges as carriers. Notably, the sponge carrier facilitated a shorter start-up period of 41 to 44 days. Furthermore, the sponge-based anammox reactor exhibited a superior NH4+-N removal capacity (≥85.7%), under operations of a shorter EBRT of 40 min, low influent NH4+-N concentrations (≤30 mg/L), and COD levels of ≤67 mg/L. In addition, a comprehensive evaluation of the BAF/AX process was conducted, which considered performance, cost-effectiveness, and engineering feasibility. The performance results illustrated that the effluent quality met the standard well (with a COD level of ≤ 50 mg/L, and a TN of ≤3.1~10.5 mg/L). Following a comparison against the low aeration intensity operation, it was recommended to operate BAF at a low EBRT within the BAF/AX process. Consequently, the treated volume was double the volume of the standalone BAF-DN, synchronously achieving low costs (0.413 yuan/m3). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biological Technologies for Wastewater Treatment)
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16 pages, 1545 KiB  
Article
Optimized Design of Modular Constructed Wetland for Treating Rural Black–Odorous Water
by Luyang Li, Zheng Zhang, Yu Shen, Bing He, Yuang Fu, Shuangshuang Kou and Jingqing Gao
Water 2024, 16(17), 2492; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16172492 - 2 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1156
Abstract
In recent years, the phenomenon of black–odorous water has occurred frequently, and constructed wetlands have been widely used as an effective means of treating black–odorous water. In order to achieve the goal of low-carbon and high-efficiency long-term clean-up of black–odorous water, the modular [...] Read more.
In recent years, the phenomenon of black–odorous water has occurred frequently, and constructed wetlands have been widely used as an effective means of treating black–odorous water. In order to achieve the goal of low-carbon and high-efficiency long-term clean-up of black–odorous water, the modular constructed wetland system was optimized in this study. The optimized modular constructed wetland consisted of aeration, denitrification, and phosphorus removal, of which the denitrification module was a sulfur–iron autotrophic denitrification unit and the phosphorus removal module was a polyaluminum chloride composite filler phosphorus-removal unit. Experimental findings indicated that modular systems with layout ratios of 1:3:1 (A) and 1:2:2 (B) exhibit outstanding performance in remediating contaminants from black–odorous water. Notably, system B demonstrated superior treatment efficiency. Under conditions of high pollution loading, system B consistently achieved stable removal rates for COD (95.79%), TN (91.74%), NH4+-N (95.17%), and TP (82.21%). The combination of along-track changes and high-throughput sequencing results showed that the synergies among the units did not produce negative effects during the purification process, and each unit realized its predefined function. Changes in the substrate and internal environment of the wetland units caused changes in the microbial populations, and the unique microbial community structure of the units ensured that they were effective in removing different pollutants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biological Technologies for Wastewater Treatment)
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13 pages, 12658 KiB  
Article
Research and Prevention of Harmful Gases in Special Structures of Urban Deep Drainage Systems
by Hao Liu
Water 2024, 16(17), 2481; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16172481 - 31 Aug 2024
Viewed by 797
Abstract
Wastewater remaining in pipes for extended periods can create anaerobic environments, fostering the growth of anaerobic bacteria and producing harmful gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide. Additionally, certain structures within drainage systems, such as drop shafts and vertical shafts, induce turbulent flow, [...] Read more.
Wastewater remaining in pipes for extended periods can create anaerobic environments, fostering the growth of anaerobic bacteria and producing harmful gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide. Additionally, certain structures within drainage systems, such as drop shafts and vertical shafts, induce turbulent flow, causing the release of dissolved harmful gases, which pose significant risks to public health and urban infrastructure. This study focused on the investigation and analysis of vertical shafts with helical tray structures in drainage systems. Using ANSYS 2021 R2 software, simulations of the shafts were conducted by employing the standard k-ε turbulence model and Eulerian multiphase flow method to simulate the shaft’s operation and obtain various parameters of hydrogen sulfide release. Concurrently, a scale model constructed in the laboratory was used to study and analyze the release of hydrogen sulfide gas dissolved in water from this type of structure. Combining the simulation and laboratory experiments, the hydrogen sulfide gas release rate from water in this structure was 0.05–0.4%. This research provides a reference for the study and control of hydrogen sulfide gas release. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biological Technologies for Wastewater Treatment)
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