Source-tracing of industrial and municipal wastewater effluent in river water via fluorescence fingerprinting.

Fluorescence fingerprinting is a technique to uniquely characterize water samples based on their distinct composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) measured via 3D fluorescence spectroscopy. It is an effective tool for monitoring the chemical composition of various water systems. This study examines a river affected by several municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents and aims to source-tracing them via fluorescence fingerprints based on parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) components.

Correction: Exploring the variability of PFAS in urban sewage: a comparison of emissions in commercial municipal urban areas.

Correction for 'Exploring the variability of PFAS in urban sewage: a comparison of emissions in commercial municipal urban areas' by N. Krlovic , , 2024, , 1868-1878, https://doi.org/10.

Feasibility study of electrodialysis as an ammonium reuse process for covering the nitrogen demand of an industrial wastewater treatment plant.

Electrodialysis (ED) is a cost-effective membrane technology used is a variety of fields for desalination and concentration. This feasibility study explores the potential of ED as an NH-N recovery technology from anaerobic digestate liquor (ADL), and the use of the concentrate as a nitrogen source in an industrial wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Three neighboring WWTPs were the focus of this study: Two municipal WWTPs A and B, operating anaerobic sludge stabilization, and a pulp & paper WWTP C, utilizing urea as a nitrogen source.

Exploring the variability of PFAS in urban sewage: a comparison of emissions in commercial municipal urban areas.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are recognized for their persistence and ubiquitous occurrence in different environmental compartments. Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) cannot effectively remove PFAS from wastewater, and a better understanding of the occurrence and sources of PFAS in this medium would enable effective source abatement. We compared sewage from urban areas exhibiting differentiating characteristics with respect to activities in their catchments.

Multi-criteria analysis of strategies towards sustainable recycling of phosphorus from sewage sludge in Austria.

To promote optimal phosphorus (P) recovery from municipal wastewater and sewage sludge with viable legal instruments, it is imperative to understand the regional and national consequences of different legal requirements for recycling. In this study we develop a scenario-based analysis to assess the environmental and economic impact of different national P recovery strategies in the context of a detailed representation of the existing Austrian wastewater infrastructure. This assessment combines material flow analysis, life cycle assessment and life cycle costing and includes the indicators P recycling rate, P utilization degree, heavy metal removal rate, share of heavy metals' content in wastewater redirected to agricultural soils, global warming potential, cumulated energy demand, terrestrial acidification potential, volume of freight transport and annual costs.

Systematic underestimation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon aqueous concentrations in rivers.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a widespread group of organic contaminants whose presence in water bodies is cause of severe concern. With few exceptions, the majority of PAHs is hydrophobic, presents a high adsorption affinity, and is thus primarily transported within river systems during high-flow events together with suspended particulate matter (SPM). Evidence exists of analytical challenges related to the incomplete extraction of PAHs adsorbed to solids and thus to a potential negative bias in the chemical analysis of PAHs in bulk water samples with high SPM content.

A source-based framework to estimate the annual load of PFAS in municipal wastewater.

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of persistent chemicals, whose impact has been observed in various environmental compartments. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered a major emission pathway of PFAS, specifically in the context of the aquatic environment. The goal of this study was to develop a compartmentalized, source-based load estimation model of 7 PFAS within the municipal wastewater influent.

Fate of nutrients and trace contaminants in a large shallow soda lake. Spatial gradients and underlying processes from the tributary river to the reed belt.

Shallow lakes provide a multitude of ecosystem functions, but they are particularly vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Understanding the driving factors determining the fate and spatial distribution of nutrients and pollutants in such systems is fundamental to assess the impact of ongoing or future external pressures endangering their ecological integrity. This study investigates the fate of trace contaminants transported into the large shallow Lake Neusiedl, including contaminants representative of different patterns of sources and emission pathways and of environmental behavior, namely metals, pharmaceuticals, an artificial sweetener and perfluoroalkyl substances.

To analyze or to throw away? On the stability of excitation-emission matrices for different water systems.

Fluorescence spectroscopy has numerous applications to characterize natural and human-influenced water bodies regarding dissolved organic matter (DOM) and contamination. Analyzing samples in a timely manner is crucial to gaining valid and reproducible excitation-emission matrices (EEM) but often difficult, specifically in transnational projects with long transport distances. In this study, eight samples of different water sources (tap water, differently polluted rivers, and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents) were stored under standardized conditions for 59 days and analyzed regularly.

Efficiency of Sidestream Nitritation for Modern Two-Stage Activated Sludge Plants.

The operational costs of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are mainly driven by electric power consumption, making the energy-efficient operation an all-time present target for engineers and operators. A well known approach to reduce the demand for purchased electricity is the operation of an anaerobic sludge stabilisation process. Although anaerobic digesters make it possible to recover large quantities of energy-rich methane gas, additional strategies are required to handle the increased internal return flow of nitrogen, which arises with the sludge dewatering effluent (SDE).

Pollutant source or sink? Adsorption and mobilization of PFOS and PFOA from sediments in a large shallow lake with extended reed belt.

In this study, we i) assessed the occurrence of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in sediments, pore water, and bulk water from three different areas in Lake Neusiedl, Austria, and ii) investigated mechanisms regulating adsorption and remobilization of these substances under different conditions via multiple lab-scale experiments. The adsorption capacity was mainly influenced by sediments' organic matter content, oxide composition, and pre-loading. Results suggest that a further increase of PFAS-concentrations in the open lake can be partly buffered by sediment transport to the littoral zone and adsorption to sediments in the extended reed belt.

Enhanced statistical evaluation of fluorescence properties to identify dissolved organic matter dynamics during river high-flow events.

Fluorescence spectroscopy has become a widely used technique to characterize dissolved organic matter (DOM) and organic hazardous micro-pollutants in natural and human-influenced water bodies. Especially in rivers highly impacted by municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants' effluents, the fluorescence signal at low-flow is mainly dominated by these discharges. At river high-flow, their influence decreases due to dilution effects, and at the same time, other compounds of DOM, stemming from diffuse inputs, can increase or even dominate.

Coupling a pathway-oriented approach with tailor-made monitoring as key to well-performing regionalized modelling of PFAS emissions and river concentrations.

Surface water pollution with poly- and perfluorinated compounds (PFAS) is a well-recognized problem, but knowledge about contribution of different emission pathways, especially diffuse ones, is very limited. This study investigates the potential of the pathway oriented MoRE model in shedding light on the relevance of different emission pathways on regional scale and in predicting concentrations and loads in unmonitored rivers. Modelling was supported with a tailor-made monitoring programme aimed to fill gaps on PFAS concentration in different environmental compartments.

Treatment of micropollutants in wastewater: Balancing effectiveness, costs and implications.

In this contribution, we analyse scenarios of advanced wastewater treatment for the removal of micropollutants. By this we refer to current mainstream, broad spectrum processes including ozonation and sorption onto activated carbon. We argue that advanced treatment requires properly implemented tertiary (nutrient removal) treatment in order to be effective.

Systematic data-driven exploration of Austrian wastewater and sludge treatment - implications for phosphorus governance, costs and environment.

Within the new policy framework shaped by the EU Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plans, the field of wastewater and sludge treatment in Europe is subject to high expectations and new challenges related to mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, micropollutant removal and resource recovery. With respect to phosphorus recovery, several technologies and processes have been thoroughly investigated. Nevertheless, a systemic and detailed understanding of the existing infrastructure and of the related environmental and economic implications is missing.

Advanced wastewater treatment with ozonation and granular activated carbon filtration: Inactivation of antibiotic resistance targets in a long-term pilot study.

The inactivation of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and genes (ARGs) in an advanced plant combining ozonation and granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration applied for effluent after conventional activated sludge treatment at a full-scale urban wastewater treatment plant was investigated for over 13 consecutive months. The nitrite compensated specific ozone dose ranged between 0.4 and 0.

Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha lineage and its correlation with quantitative wastewater-based epidemiology data.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) gave rise to an international public health emergency in 3 months after its emergence in Wuhan, China. Typically for an RNA virus, random mutations occur constantly leading to new lineages, incidental with a higher transmissibility. The highly infective alpha lineage, firstly discovered in the UK, led to elevated mortality and morbidity rates as a consequence of Covid-19, worldwide.

Assessment of Graphical Methods for Determination of the Limiting Current Density in Complex Electrodialysis-Feed Solutions.

Electrodialysis (ED) is a promising technology suitable for nutrient recovery from a wide variety of liquid waste streams. For optimal operating conditions, the limiting current density (LCD) has to be determined separately for each treated feed and ED equipment. LCD is most frequently assessed in the NaCl solutions.

Effect of ozonation on the biodegradability of urban wastewater treatment plant effluent.

The present work aimed to study the effect of ozonation on the organic sum parameters linked to enhanced biodegradability. Laboratory experiments were conducted with the effluent of four Austrian urban wastewater treatment plants with low food to microorganism ratios and different matrix characteristics. Biochemical oxygen demand over 5 days (BOD) was measured before ozonation and after application of different specific ozone doses (D) (0.

Influence of road salt thawing peaks on the inflow composition and activated sludge properties in municipal wastewater treatment.

Operational data over 2 years from three large Austrian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with design capacities of 4 million, 950,000 and 110,000 population equivalent (PE) were examined. Salt peaks, due to thawing road salt were detected and quantified by electrical conductivity, temperature and chloride measurement in the inflow of the WWTPs. Daily NaCl inflow loads up to 1,147 t/d and PE-specific loads of 0.

50 years of design and operation of large wastewater treatment plant conferences. A history of innovation and development.

Large wastewater treatment plants (>50,000 population equivalents) treat more than 80% of the wastewater treated on a global scale, today it might be even >90%. They therefore provide the most relevant contribution to water protection from urban and industrial wastewater. This was already the case in 1971 when academics realised that progress in the scientific community alone will not succeed in a rapid transfer of research results to practitioners in design and operation of these plants.

Deriving functional safety (ISO 26262) S-parameters for vulnerable road users from national crash data.

Currently, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated vehicles (AV) are designed for use in the existing road infrastructure. These partially and fully automated vehicles will be operated in a shared space not only with other vehicles but also with vulnerable road users (VRU). Even though crashes between ADAS equipped vehicles or AV and VRU seem inevitable in such a scenario, functional safety, i.

Resilience of agricultural soils to antibiotic resistance genes introduced by agricultural management practices.

Antimicrobial resistance (AR) represents a global threat in human and veterinary medicine. In that regard, AR proliferation and dissemination in agricultural soils after manure application raises concerns on the enrichment of endogenous soil bacterial population with allochthonous antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Natural resilience of agricultural soils and background concentrations of ARGs play key roles in the mitigation of AR propagation in natural environments.