Challenges for Circular Economy under the EU 2020/741 Wastewater Reuse Regulation.

Wastewater reuse is seen as an opportunity to support a circular economy and optimize water resources. However, the use of wastewater is limited by the need for the proper protection of health and the environment and demands a certain minimum quality of treated reclaimed water. The objective of this work is to evaluate the opportunities both for the agents in the water treatment chain (from municipalities to farmers) and for technology providers under the recently approved Regulation EU-2020/741.

SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater anticipated COVID-19 occurrence in a low prevalence area.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused more than 200,000 reported COVID-19 cases in Spain resulting in more than 20,800 deaths as of April 21, 2020. Faecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from COVID-19 patients has extensively been reported. Therefore, we investigated the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in six wastewater treatments plants (WWTPs) serving the major municipalities within the Region of Murcia (Spain), the area with the lowest COVID-19 prevalence within Iberian Peninsula.

Prokaryotic communities and potential pathogens in sewage sludge: Response to wastewaster origin, loading rate and treatment technology.

Sewage sludge features high nitrogen and phosphorous contents encouraging its use as a biosolid in agriculture, but it bears potential chemical and microbiological risks. To tease apart the relative contribution of main factors determining the sludge chemical and microbial features, we analysed 28 treatment plants differing in the wastewater origin (municipal residues, agro-food or chemical industries), organic loading rate and treatment technology (extended aeration, activated sludge or activated sludge followed by anaerobic digestion). We found that the treatment technology and the organic loading rate are main determinants of the sludge chemical properties, including its organic load, nutrient and metal contents, and override the effect of the wastewater origin.

Cost comparison of full-scale water reclamation technologies with an emphasis on membrane bioreactors.

The paper assesses the costs of full-scale membrane bioreactors (MBRs). Capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX) of Spanish MBR facilities have been verified and compared to activated sludge plants (CAS) using water reclamation treatment (both conventional and advanced). Spanish MBR facilities require a production of 0.

Assessment of total bacterial cells in extended aeration activated sludge plants using flow cytometry as a microbial monitoring tool.

The extended aeration activated sludge (EAAS) process is one of the most applied biological processes in small towns. Here, we study the abundance and viability of total bacterial cells in two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) operating with an EAAS process. We use flow cytometry (FCM) combined with SYTO13 and propidium iodide (PI) dyes as a rapid, easy, reliable and accurate microbial monitoring tool.