Modelling the impacts generated by reclaimed wastewater reuse in agriculture: From literature gaps to an integrated risk assessment in a One Health perspective.

The reuse of reclaimed wastewater is increasingly recognized as a viable alternative water source for irrigation. Its application, whether direct or indirect, impacts several interconnected compartments, including groundwater, surface water, soil, crops, and humans. Reclaimed wastewater provides essential resources for crops, like water and nutrients.

Monitoring (micro-)pollutants in wastewater treatment plants: Comparing discharges in wet- and dry-weather.

Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are crucial for maintaining good quality of surface water, limiting environmental pollution. However, during wet-weather events, WWTPs become an important point-source discharge due to the activation of the bypass, which releases a mix of untreated wastewater and stormwater. This work aims to assess how the WWTP discharges (effluent and bypass) impact on the receiving surface water body during dry- and wet-weather, monitoring 78 pollutants (7 conventional pollutants, 19 heavy metals, and 52 micropollutants) in each stream (effluent during dry-weather, effluent and bypass during wet-weather), including the influent in dry-weather for comparison.

Tackling climate change through wastewater reuse in agriculture: A prioritization methodology.

Water shortages, exacerbated by climate change, are posing a major global challenge, particularly impacting the agricultural sector. A growing interest is raised towards reclaimed wastewater (RWW) as an alternative irrigation source, capable of exploiting also the nutrient content through the fertigation practice. However, a prioritization methodology for selecting the most appropriate wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for implementing direct RWW reuse is currently missing.

Adsorption on activated carbon combined with ozonation for the removal of contaminants of emerging concern in drinking water.

The presence of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in drinking water is raising concern for potential negative effects on human health. Ozonation and adsorption on activated carbon are the most suitable processes for CECs removal in drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). This study aims at evaluating the performance of ozonation and adsorption as in-series processes compared to those of the stand-alone processes, focusing on 18 compounds representative of various CECs families.

An integrated human health risk assessment framework for alkylphenols due to drinking water and crops' food consumption.

The increasing overexploitation and pollution of freshater resources are potential threats for public health, causing cross-contamination among the interconnected environmental compartments (freshwater, soil, crops). In particular, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) originating from anthropic activities are not completely removed by wastewater treatments plants. This leads to their presence in drinking water (DW) sources, soil and crops intended for human consumption due to discharges of treated wastewater in surface waters and direct wastewater reuse practices.

Identifying Eukaryotes and Factors Influencing Their Biogeography in Drinking Water Metagenomes.

The biogeography of eukaryotes in drinking water systems is poorly understood relative to that of prokaryotes or viruses, limiting the understanding of their role and management. A challenge with studying complex eukaryotic communities is that metagenomic analysis workflows are currently not as mature as those that focus on prokaryotes or viruses. In this study, we benchmarked different strategies to recover eukaryotic sequences and genomes from metagenomic data and applied the best-performing workflow to explore the factors affecting the relative abundance and diversity of eukaryotic communities in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs).

Modelling and prediction of the effect of operational parameters on the fate of contaminants of emerging concern in WWTPs.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) provide a barrier against the discharge of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) into the environment. The removal of CECs is highly WWTP-specific and the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood, hampering the optimization of biological treatment steps for their removal. To fill this knowledge gap, we assessed the influence of four operational parameters of activated sludge biological treatment, namely total suspended solids, temperature, pH and redox conditions, on the sorption and biodegradation of four CECs under controlled laboratory conditions.

Disinfection efficiency prediction under dynamic conditions: Application to peracetic acid disinfection of wastewater.

In this work, a mechanistic dynamic model of continuous flow peracetic acid (PAA) disinfection was developed, calibrated and validated, assuming E. coli as indicator microorganism. The model was conceived as a 1-dimensional dispersion model integrating PAA first order decay and E.

Integrated Exposure and Algal Ecotoxicological Assessments of Effluents from Secondary and Advanced-Tertiary Wastewater-Treatment Plants.

The great concern over the environmental impact of wastewaters has led to the designing of advanced treatment processes to upgrade conventional treatment plants and achieve a significant reduction of contaminants in receiving waters. In the present study we combined chemical and ecotoxicological analyses, aiming to evaluate the reduction of toxicity effects associated with the removal of micropollutants and to define the contribution of the detected compounds to the overall toxicity of the mixtures in a series of wastewater effluents collected from a secondary treatment (OUT 2) and from a tertiary activated carbon treatment (OUT 3) plant. The target compounds were selected after a screening procedure among pharmaceuticals, musk fragrances, and trace metals.

Quantitative chemical risk assessment for mixtures: Application to alkylphenol mixtures and phthalate mixtures in tap and bottled water.

The occurrence and hazard risks of mixtures of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in drinking water (DW) lead to serious consideration regarding the possible impacts on public health. Consequently, there is ongoing research, development and empowerment of risk assessment procedures to get more toxicological insight. For instance, alkylphenols and phthalates have been frequently reported to be present both in bottled and tap water, affecting different human endpoints.

Artificial neural network modeling of full-scale UV disinfection for process control aimed at wastewater reuse.

Accurate modeling of wastewater ultraviolet disinfection is fundamental as support for process optimization and control. Detailed modeling of hydrodynamics and fluence rate via computational fluid dynamics, coupled to laboratory studies of inactivation kinetics, are usually the preferred approach for UV disinfection modeling. Despite this approach often provides accurate predictive performance, it requires significantly high computational time, making it unfeasible for real-time process control.

UVC inactivation of MS2-phage in drinking water - Modelling and field testing.

UVC disinfection has been recognised by the WHO as an effective disinfection treatment to provide decentralized potable water. Under real conditions there are still unknowns that limit this application including the influence of suspended solids and natural organic matter. This work aims to investigate the influence of two key parameters, suspended solids and natural organic matter, on the efficiency of UVC disinfection of surface water to achieve the drinking water quality requirements established by the WHO for point of use (POU) technologies.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) adsorption in drinking water by granular activated carbon: Influence of activated carbon and PFAS characteristics.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) persistence in the environment leads to their presence in drinking water, that is of high concern due to their potential human health risk. Adsorption onto activated carbon (AC) has been identified as an effective technique to remove PFAS. Adsorption isotherms and breakthrough curves, determined by rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCTs), were studied for eight PFAS and four granular ACs, characterized by different origins, porosities and numbers of reactivation cycles.

Bisphenol A leaching from epoxy resins in the drinking water distribution networks as human health risk determinant.

Monitoring and management of drinking water distribution networks (DWDNs), including possible leaching from materials in contact with drinking water, have been stressed as crucial to avoid re-contamination of drinking water leading to a potential increase of human health risk. Recent scientific studies and regulations clearly highlighted the leaching of bisphenol A (BPA) from plastic materials used to renovate DWDNs pipelines as one of the major hazardous source, resulting in severe consequences for human health. In this study, lab migration tests were performed on three commercial epoxy resins, designed with the Design of Experiments (DoE) method in order to build a BPA migration model as a function of water chemical stability, evaluated as aggressivity index (AI), and residual chlorine concentration.

Bacterial dynamics in drinking water distribution systems and flow cytometry monitoring scheme optimization.

Water biostability is desired within drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) to limit microbiologically-related operational, aesthetic and, eventually, health-related issues. However, variations in microbiological quality can take place both spatially along DWDS pipelines and temporally at single locations due to biofilm detachment, water quality seasonality and other processes. In this study, long- and short-term trends of bacterial concentration and community structure were investigated in a secondary branch of an unchlorinated DWDS for several months using high-frequency flow cytometry (FCM) and traditional laboratory monitoring campaigns.

Development of a quantitative chemical risk assessment (QCRA) procedure for contaminants of emerging concern in drinking water supply.

The uncertainties on the occurrence, fate and hazard of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) increasingly challenge drinking water (DW) utilities whether additional measures should be taken to reduce the health risk. This has led to the development and evaluation of risk-based approaches by the scientific community. DW guideline values are commonly derived based on deterministic chemical risk assessment (CRA).

Soft sensor predictor of E. coli concentration based on conventional monitoring parameters for wastewater disinfection control.

Real-time acquisition of indicator bacteria concentration at the inlet of disinfection unit is a fundamental support to the control of chemical and ultraviolet wastewater disinfection. Culture-based enumeration methods need time-consuming laboratory analyses, which give results after several hours or days, while newest biosensors rarely provide information about specific strains and outputs are not directly comparable with regulatory limits as a consequence of measurement principles. In this work, a novel soft sensor approach for virtual real-time monitoring of E.

Modelling the fate of micropollutants in integrated urban wastewater systems: Extending the applicability to pharmaceuticals.

Pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) are a category of micropollutants frequently detected across integrated urban wastewater systems. Existing modelling tools supporting the evaluation of micropollutant fate in such complex systems, such as the IUWS_MP model library (which acronym IUWS stands for Integrated Urban Wastewater System), do not consider fate processes and fractions that are typical for PhACs. This limitation was overcome by extending the existing IUWS_MP model library with new fractions (conjugated metabolites, sequestrated fraction) and processes (consumption-excretion, deconjugation).

Nanostructured Cellulose-Based Sorbent Materials for Water Decontamination from Organic Dyes.

Nanostructured materials have been recently proposed in the field of environmental remediation. The use of nanomaterials as building blocks for the design of nano-porous micro-dimensional systems is particularly promising since it can overcome the (eco-)toxicological risks associated with the use of nano-sized technologies. Following this approach, we report here the application of a nanostructured cellulose-based material as sorbent for effective removal of organic dyes from water.

Ecotoxicity Evaluation of Pure Peracetic Acid (PAA) after Eliminating Hydrogen Peroxide from Commercial PAA.

In recent years, peracetic acid (PAA) has gained a lot of attention as an alternative disinfectant to chlorine-based disinfectants in the water industry. Commercial PAA solutions contain both PAA and hydrogen peroxide (HP), and the degradation of HP is slower than PAA when it is used for disinfection. All previous toxicity studies have been based on commercial PAA, and variance in toxicity values have been observed due to different PAA:HP ratios.

A statistical assessment of micropollutants occurrence, time trend, fate and human health risk using left-censored water quality data.

In recent years, the presence of micropollutants in drinking water has become an issue of growing global concern. Due to their low concentrations, monitoring databases are usually rich in censored data (e.g.

A Self-Powered Wireless Water Quality Sensing Network Enabling Smart Monitoring of Biological and Chemical Stability in Supply Systems.

A smart, safe, and efficient management of water is fundamental for both developed and developing countries. Several wireless sensor networks have been proposed for real-time monitoring of drinking water quantity and quality, both in the environment and in pipelines. However, surface fouling significantly affects the long-term reliability of pipes and sensors installed in-line.

Potential of interactive multiobjective optimization in supporting the design of a groundwater biodenitrification process.

The design of water treatment plants requires simultaneous analysis of technical, economic and environmental aspects, identified by multiple conflicting objectives. We demonstrated the advantages of an interactive multiobjective optimization (MOO) method over a posteriori methods in an unexplored field, namely the design of a biological treatment plant for drinking water production, that tackles the process drawbacks, contrarily to what happens in a traditional volumetric-load-driven design procedure. Specifically, we consider a groundwater denitrification biofilter, simulated by the Activated Sludge Model modified with two-stage denitrification kinetics.