Unveiling the existence and ecological hazards of trace organic pollutants in wastewater treatment plant effluents across China.

The presence of trace organic pollutants in the effluent of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) poses considerable risks to aquatic organisms and human health. A large-scale survey of 302 trace organic pollutants in the effluent of 46 Chinese WWTPs was conducted to gain an improved understanding of their occurrence and ecological risks. The survey data showed that 216 compounds in 11 chemical classes had been detected in effluents.

ASC/Caspase-1-activated endothelial cells pyroptosis is involved in vascular injury induced by arsenic combined with high-fat diet.

Environmental arsenic (As) or high-fat diet (HFD) exposure alone are risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVDs). However, the effects and mechanisms of co-exposure to As and HFD on the cardiovascular system remain unclear. The current study aimed to investigate the combined effects of As and HFD on vascular injury and shed some light on the underlying mechanisms.

A comparative study of programs to predict direct photolysis rates in wastewater systems.

A wide range of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are known to photodegrade in the surface layers of natural waters and wastewater systems. Computer programs such as GCSolar, ABIWAS, APEX, EXAMS and WASP model the direct photolysis rates and half-lives of CECs, usually as a function of the solar irradiance, water molar light extinction, chemical molar light absorption and reaction quantum yield. These programs have been used extensively for studies in natural water systems in the northern hemisphere.

Challenges and advancements in membrane distillation crystallization for industrial applications.

Membrane distillation crystallization (MDC) is an emerging hybrid thermal membrane technology that synergizes membrane distillation (MD) and crystallization, which can achieve both freshwater and minerals recovery from high concentrated solutions. Due to the outstanding hydrophobic nature of the membranes, MDC has been widely used in numerous fields such as seawater desalination, valuable minerals recovery, industrial wastewater treatment and pharmaceutical applications, where the separation of dissolved solids is required. Despite the fact that MDC has shown great promise in producing both high-purity crystals and freshwater, most studies on MDC remain limited to laboratory scale, and industrializing MDC processes is currently impractical.

A new ultra-wide-field fundus dataset to diabetic retinopathy grading using hybrid preprocessing methods.

Diabetic retinopathy(DR) is a common early diabetic complication and one of the main causes of blindness. In clinical diagnosis and treatment, regular screening with fundus imaging is an effective way to prevent the development of DR. However, the regular fundus images used in most DR screening work have a small imaging range, narrow field of vision, and can not contain more complete lesion information, which leads to less ideal automatic DR grading results.

Efficiency of lagoon-based municipal wastewater treatment in removing microplastics.

Municipal wastewater treatment plants act as a sink, but also are a source of microplastics in the environment. A conventional wastewater lagoon system and an activated sludge (AS)-lagoon system in Victoria (Australia) were investigated through a two-year sampling program to understand the fate and transport of MP in such treatment processes. The abundance (>25 μm) and characteristics (size, shape, and colour) of the microplastics present in the various wastewater streams were determined.

Investigating the fate and transport of microplastics in a lagoon wastewater treatment system using a multimedia model approach.

Effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a major source of microplastics (MP) in the terrestrial and aquatic environment; there is growing concern over the environmental and health impacts of MP pollution. In this study, the MP removal (MP cut-off size= 25 µm) in a lagoon-based wastewater treatment system was predicted by developing a model based on the multimedia modelling approach and utilising MP-specific properties for improving the understanding of the fate and transport of MP in such treatment processes. The high MP removal efficiency of the lagoon treatment system as predicted by the model (99.

Using fluorescence index (FI) of dissolved organic matter (DOM) to identify non-point source pollution: The difference in FI between soil extracts and wastewater reveals the principle.

Traceability and quantification of agricultural non-point source pollution are of great significance to water pollution management in watersheds. In this study, fluorescence components and indices of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the river, wastewater and soil extracts from different land use types were analyzed to screen indicators that can identify non-point source pollution in 15 independent small watersheds located at the southern Qinling piedmont (China). The results showed that DOM fluorescence components in soil extracts among different land uses didn't have significant differences.

A complementary approach of response surface methodology and an artificial neural network for the optimization and prediction of low salinity reverse osmosis performance.

The treatment of saline water sources by reverse osmosis (RO) is being utilized increasingly to address water shortages around the world. The application of RO is energy-intensive; therefore, plant and process optimization are crucial. The desalination of low salinity water sources with total dissolved solids (TDS) of <5000 mg/L is less energy intensive than the desalination of highly saline seawater and brackish water.

Comprehensive Quality and Bioactive Constituent Analysis of Celery Juice Made from Different Cultivars.

Celery juice is rich in bioactive constituents, has good health properties, and is becoming much more popular, with its demand continuing to rise. The results of this study show that celery juice from Chinese cultivars contains more bioactive constituents, whereas celery cultivars from the United States and European countries have a higher juice yield. Compared with the other juices, the juices of five cultivars may taste sweeter, and the juices of three cultivars had a higher antioxidant capacity.

Transcriptome Analyses Reveal the Role of Light in Releasing the Morphological Dormancy of Celery Seed by Integrating Plant Hormones, Sugar Metabolism and Endosperm Weakening.

Celery seed is known to be difficult to germinate due to its morphological dormancy. Light is the key signal to release morphological dormancy and promote seed germination. However, this mechanism has rarely been studied.

Impact of microalgae species and solution salinity on algal treatment of wastewater reverse osmosis concentrate.

Six common microalgal species, including freshwater microalgae Scenedesmus abundans, Chlorella vulgaris, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Coelastrum microporum, and marine microalgae Nannochloropsis salina and Dunaliella tertiolecta, were tested in batch treatment to identify the most promising species for remediating a municipal wastewater reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC). Selected species were then studied at different ROC salinity levels (5, 10, and 15 g TDS/L) in semi-continuous treatment to evaluate their potential for nutrient remediation, and biogas production through anaerobic digestion. S.

Treatment of wastewater reverse osmosis concentrate using alginate-immobilised microalgae: Integrated impact of solution conditions on algal bead performance.

Alginate can be used for entrapment of microalgal cells in gel beads to achieve high-rate treatment of wastewater and can overcome the difficulties of cell separation that would occur in suspended microalgae treatment systems. The potential for alginate beads to disintegrate in the presence of high ion concentrations could limit the use of alginate entrapment for treating municipal wastewater reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC). The combined effect of the pH, alkalinity, and salinity of the ROC that impact the physical stability, chemical characteristics, biomass production, and nutrient removal performance of alginate-entrapped Chlorella vulgaris for treating the ROC was investigated.

Quantification of seasonal photo-induced formation of reactive intermediates in a municipal sewage lagoon upon sunlight exposure.

Photochemically produced reactive oxygen species in wastewater lagoons upon sunlight exposure are important in the attenuation of emerging contaminants (ECs). The production of reactive radicals in wastewater lagoons depends on both environmental factors and the composition of effluent organic matter (EfOM) in the wastewater. Knowing the steady state concentrations of these reactive species produced in a particular lagoon wastewater is critical to the prediction of the persistence and attenuation of ECs in that sunlit wastewater treatment lagoon.

Potential of Chlorella vulgaris and Nannochloropsis salina for nutrient and organic matter removal from municipal wastewater reverse osmosis concentrate.

Municipal wastewater reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) poses health and environmental risks on its disposal as it contains nutrients and harmful organic compounds at elevated concentrations. This study compared a freshwater microalga Chlorella vulgaris and a marine microalga Nannochloropsis salina in suspended and alginate-immobilised cultures for batch and semi-continuous treatment of the ROC. The immobilised algae gave comparable nutrient removal rates to the suspended cells, demonstrating immobilisation had no apparent negative impact on the photosynthetic activity of microalgae.

Application of a QWASI model to produce validated insights into the fate and transport of six emerging contaminants in a wastewater lagoon system.

The occurrence and fate of emerging contaminants (ECs) in surface water bodies is of increasing interest to water quality managers and environmental regulators throughout the world. Wastewater treatment plants are a major source of ECs in many aquatic environments. A modified Quantitative Water Air Sediment Interaction (QWASI) fugacity model was developed for a municipal wastewater lagoon system to study the behaviour of six representative ECs.

Application of enhanced membrane bioreactor (eMBR) for the reuse of carwash wastewater.

Minimising the usage of potable water in industrial and cleaning processes is essential to conserve fresh water. Recycling treated wastewater will help to do so. However, high quality treated wastewater is required for reuse and recycling.

A comparative study of biological activated carbon based treatments on two different types of municipal reverse osmosis concentrates.

A study was conducted to understand the impact of reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) characteristics on the efficacy of biological activated carbon (BAC) based treatments for removing organics and nutrients from two ROC streams (ROC derived from municipal waste input with high salinity, and ROC derived from domestic waste plus industrial trade waste with markedly lower salinity). Fluorescence excitation and emission matrix spectra and molecular weight analysis demonstrated that ROC and ROC had a significantly different composition of organic compounds due to the petrochemical processing and abattoir waste compounds in ROC. Although the sequence of coagulation, UV/HO and BAC gave the highest organic removal from the two ROCs (67% DOC for ROCa and 62% for ROCb), UV/HO followed by BAC achieved satisfactory removal (>55%) for both ROC types.

Recovery and reuse of alginate in an immobilized algae reactor.

The use of microalgae for nutrients removal from wastewater has attracted more attention in recent years. More specifically, immobilized systems where algae cells are entrapped in beads in a matrix of a polysaccharide such as alginate have shown a great potential for nutrients removal from wastewater to low levels with reduced retention times and hence smaller footprint. However, a significant operational cost in the up-scaling of alginate-immobilized algae reactors will be the gelling agent alginate.

Fugacity modelling of the fate of micropollutants in aqueous systems - Uncertainty and sensitivity issues.

The application of multimedia fugacity models is useful to facilitate understanding of the behaviour of emerging contaminants during wastewater treatment, as well as after their release to the environment. In this paper, twenty-two fugacity modelling applications (reported over 1995-2019) describing the distribution of organic micropollutants in wastewater treatment plants and surface water bodies were analysed in terms of model application and modelling strategy. Disparities and similarities in strategies including selection of micropollutants, data sources for internal and external model inputs, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, as well as model validation were discussed.

Moving from the traditional paradigm of pathogen inactivation to controlling antibiotic resistance in water - Role of ultraviolet irradiation.

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation has proven an effective tool for inactivating microorganisms in water. There is, however, a need to look at disinfection from a different perspective because microbial inactivation alone may not be sufficient to ensure the microbiological safety of the treated water since pathogenic genes may still be present, even after disinfection. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are of a particular concern since they enable microorganisms to become resistant to antibiotics.

Impact of the Interaction between Aquatic Humic Substances and Algal Organic Matter on the Fouling of a Ceramic Microfiltration Membrane.

The influence of the interaction between aquatic humic substances and the algal organic matter (AOM) derived from on the fouling of a ceramic microfiltration (MF) membrane was studied. AOM alone resulted in a significantly greater flux decline compared with Suwannee River humic acid (HA), and fulvic acid (FA). The mixture of AOM with HA and FA exhibited a similar flux pattern as the AOM alone in the single-cycle filtration tests, indicating the flux decline may be predominantly controlled by the AOM in the early filtration cycles.

Performance of ceramic ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membranes in treating car wash wastewater for reuse.

Reusing treated effluents in industries is a great option to conserve freshwater resources. For example, car wash centres all over Australia are estimated to use 17.5 billion litres of water and discharge it as wastewater and spend $75 million a year for both purchasing fresh water and for treating and/or discharging the wastewater.

Direct and indirect photolysis of seven micropollutants in secondary effluent from a wastewater lagoon.

The photodegradation of seven micropollutants commonly found in municipal wastewater, namely caffeine, carbamazepine, diuron, simazine, sulfamethoxazole, triclosan and 2,4-D, was investigated in pure water and secondary effluent to understand the direct and indirect photolysis of these compounds under natural sunlight irradiation. Sulfamethoxazole and triclosan were readily photodegraded with half-lives of 5.8 and 1.

Impact of biological activated carbon pre-treatment on the hydrophilic fraction of effluent organic matter for mitigating fouling in microfiltration.

The hydrophilic (HPI) fraction of effluent organic matter, which has protein and carbohydrate contents, has a high propensity to foul low-pressure membranes. Biological activated carbon (BAC) filtration was examined as a pre-treatment for reducing the fouling of a microfiltration (MF) membrane (0.1 µm PVDF) by the HPI organic fraction extracted from a biologically treated secondary effluent (BTSE).