Impacts of electrochemical disinfection on the viability and structure of the microbiome in secondary effluent water

Electrochemical disinfection(ECD)is a promising disinfection technique for wastewater reclamation;however,the impacts of ECD on the microbiome in secondary effluent wastewater remain unknown.In this study,Propidium monoazide-qPCR(PMA-qPCR)and the plate count method were used to evaluate the inactivation performance,and the PMA-16S rRNA gene sequences of living cells were targeted to study the microbiome.A discrepancy was found between PMA-qPCR and the plate count method in the evaluation of cell count,with increases of 1.5 to 2.2 orders of magnitude in the disinfection rate after 150 s of disinfection.However,the cell count recovered and occasionally exceeded original levels within 3 d after disinfection.Biodiversity was suppressed after ECD,but the microbiome after 150 s disinfection retained a higher level of evenness and stability in the community with a median Shannon index(>3.7).Pathogenic bacteria remained high in relative abundance even after 150 s of 25 V disinfection,but the biofilm-forming population was effectively suppressed by ECD.The co-occurrence network revealed a centralized and fragile network as disinfection persisted,demonstrating the destabilizing effects of ECD on the microbiome.Functional pathways for cell membrane synthesis and organic compound degradation were enriched after ECD.The reaction of the microbiome after ECD was similar to other disinfection techniques in terms of community structure.

Photolysis and photooxidation of typical gaseous VOCs by UV Irradiation： Removal performance and mechanisms

Photodegradation by ultraviolet irradiation （UV） is increasingly applied in volatile organic compound （VOC） and odor gas treatments. In this study, 27 typical VOCs, including 11 hydrocarbons and 16 hydrocarbon derivatives, at 150-200 ppm in air and nitrogen gas were treated by a laboratory-scale UV reactor with 185/254 nm irradiation to systematically investigate their removal and conversion by UV irradiation. For the tested 27 VOCs, the VOC removal efficiencies in air were within the range of 13 %- 97% （with an average of 80%） at a retention time of 53 s, which showed a moderate positive correlation with the -molecular weight of the VOCs （R = 0.53）. The respective contributions of photolysis and photooxidation to VOC removal were identified for each VOC. According to the CO2 results, the mineralization rate of the tested VOCs was within the range of 9%-90%, with an average of 41% and were negatively correlated to the molecular weight （R = -0.63）. Many of the tested VOCs exhibited high concentration particulate matters in the off-gases with a 3-283 mg/m^3 PM10 range and a 2-40 mg/m^3 PM2.5 range. The carbon balance of each VOC during UV irradiation was analyzed based on the VOC, CO2 and PM10 concentrations. Certain organic intermediates and 23-218 ppm ozone were also identified in the off-gases. Although the UV technique exhibited a high VOC removal efficiency, its drawbacks, specifically low mineralization, particulate matters production, and ozone emission, must be considered prior to its application in VOC gas treatments.

Effects of exogenous acylated homoserine lactones on biofilms in biofilters for gaseous toluene treatment

Biofilters are typical biofilm reactors, and they usually have poor biofilm formation resulting in limited reactor performance. Exogenous acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs) can enhance biofilm formation in many bioreactors based on quorum sensing regulation. However, their effect on biofilm in biofilters utilized for volatile organic compound (VOC) removal is unknown and needs to be investigated. In this study, the effects of the exogenous AHLs on biofilters for gaseous toluene removal were investigated. Analysis of biofilms in biofilters showed that the addition of exogenous AHLs considerably enhanced biofilm growth;the average biofilm concentration increased by 18%. Furthermore, the average biofilm coverage proportions in biofilters with and without exogenous AHLs were 17 % and 13 %, respectively, demonstrating the positive effect of exogenous AHLs on biofilm coverage. In particular, exogenous AHLs promoted the production of extracellular polymeric substances and the microbial adhesive strength of the biofilm. In addition, the exogenous AHLs showed no significant effect on the gaseous toluene removal efficiency of the biofilter. These results show that exogenous AHLs can enhance biofilm formation and can guide the application of exogenous AHLs in VOC biofilters.

Effect of ozone injection on the long-term performance and microbial community structure of a VOCs biofilter

For biofilters treating waste gases containing volatile organic compounds（VOCs）, biomass accumulation is a common problem which will induce bed clogging and significant decrease in VOCs removal efficiency during long-term operation. In this study, ozone injection was developed as a biomass control strategy, and its effects on the biofilter performance and the microbial community structure were investigated in long-term operation. Two biofilters,identified as BF1 and BF2, were operated continuously for 160 days treating gaseous toluene under the same conditions, except that 200 mg/m^3 ozone was continuously injected into BF1 during days 45–160. During the operation period, ozone injection did not change the toluene removal efficiency, while the pressure drop of BF1 with ozone injection was significantly lowered compared with BF2. The wet biomass accumulation rate of BF1 was 11 g/m^3/hr, which was only46% of that in BF2. According to the carbon balance result, ozone injection also increased the toluene mineralization rate from 83% to 91%, which could be an important reason for the low biomass accumulation. The PMA-q PCR result indicated that ozone injection increased the microbial viability of the biofilm. The high-throughput sequencing result also revealed that the dominant phyla and genera were not changed significantly by ozone injection, but some ozonetolerant genera such as Rhodanobacter, Dokdonella and Rhodococcus were enhanced by ozone exposure. All the results verified that ozone injection is capable of sustaining the long-term performance of biofilters by lowering the biomass accumulation, increasing the microbial viability and changing the microbial community structure.

A biofilter model for simultaneous simulation of toluene removal and bed pressure drop under varied inlet Ioadings

In this study, a biofiltration model including the effect of biomass accumulation and inert biomass growth is developed to simultaneously predict the Volatile Organic Compounds （VOCs） removal and filter bed pressure drop tmder varied inlet loadings. A laboratoryscale experimental biofilter for gaseous toluene removal was set up and operated for 100 days with inlet toluene concentration ranging from 250 to 2500 mg· m^-2 According to sensitivity analysis based on the model, the VOCs removal efficiency of the biofilter is more sensitive to Henry＇s constant, the specific surface area of the filter bed and the thickness of water layer, while the filter bed pressure drop is more sensitive to biomass yield coefficient and original void fraction. The calculated toluene removal efficiency and bed pressure drop satisfactorily fit the experimental data under varied inlet toluene loadings, which indicates the model in this study can be used to predict VOCs removal and bed pressure drop simultaneously. Based on the model, the effect of mass-transfer parameters on VOCs removal and the stable-run time of a biofilter are analyzed. The results demonstrate that the model can function as a good tool to evaluate the effect of biomass accumulation and optimize the design and operation of biofilters.

Effect of ultraviolet irradiation and chlorination on ampicillin-resistant Escherichia coli and its ampicillin resistance gene

Antibiotic resistance is a serious public health risk that may spread via potable and reclaimed water. Effective disinfection is important for inactivation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and disruption of antibiotic resistance genes. Ampicillin is a widely prescribed antibiotic but its effectiveness is increasingly undermined by resistance. In this study, changes in ampicillin resistance for Escherichia coli （E. coli） CGMCC 1.1595 were analyzed after exposure to different doses of ultraviolet （UV） or chlorine, and damage incurred by the plasmid encoding ampicillin resistance gene blaTEM-1 was assessed. We reported a greater stability in ampicillinresistant E. coli CGMCC 1.1595 after UV irradiation or chlorination when compared with previously published data for other E. coli strains. UV irradiation and chlorination led to a shift in the mortality frequency distributions of ampicillin-resistant E. coli when subse-quently exposed to ampicillin. The ampicillin hemiinhibitory concentration （IC5o） without disinfection was 3800mg·L^-1, and an increment was observed after UV irradiation or chlorination. The IC50 of ampicillin-resistant E. coli was 1.5-fold higher at a UV dose of 40 mJ·cm^-2, and was 1.4-fold higher when exposed to 2.0 mg·L^-1 chlorine. These results indicate that UV irradiation and chlorination can potentially increase the risk of selection for E. coli strains with high ampicillin resistance. There was no evident damage to blaTEM-1 after 1-10 mg Cl2· L^-1 chlorination, while a UV dose of 80 mJ·cm^-2 yielded a damage ratio for blaTEM-1 of approximately 1.2-log.Therefore, high UV doses are required for effective disruption of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria.

Effects of design parameters on performance and cost analysis of combined ultraviolet-biofilter systems treating gaseous chlorobenzene based on mathematical modeling

A conceptual mathematical model was used to evaluate the design parameters of a combined ultraviolet （UV）-biofilter system, and perform a cost analysis. Results showed that the UV light source strength and the gas residence times in the UV system （UVRT） and biofilter （EBRT） had positive effects on the overall chlorobenzene removal efficiency of the system. High ratio of UVRT to EBRT improved the removal efficiency, suggesting that the UV system has a greater effect on the overall performance of the system compared with the biofilter. Analysis of the capital and operating costs showed that the capital costs of the standalone biofilter system were much higher than those of the standalone UV system. However, the biofilter operating costs were lower than those of the UV system. The operating costs of the combined UV-biofilter system increased with increasing UVRT/EBRT ratio, whereas its capital costs decreased.

Quorum sensing regulation methods and their effects on biofilm in biological waste treatment systems: A review

Quorum sensing (QS) plays an important role in microbial aggregation control. Recently, the optimization of biological waste treatment systems by QS regulation gained an increasing attention. The effects of QS regulation on treatment performances and biofilm were frequently investigated. To understand the state of art of QS regulation, this review summarizes the methods of QS enhancement and QS inhibition in biological waste treatment systems. Typical QS enhancement methods include adding exogenous QS molecules, adding QS accelerants and cultivating QS bacteria, while typical QS inhibition methods include additions of quorum quenching (QQ) bacteria, QS-degrading enzymes, QS-degrading oxidants, and QS inhibitors. The specific improvements after applying these QS regulation methods in different treatment systems are concluded. In addition, the effects of QS regulation methods on biofilm in biological waste treatment systems are reviewed in terms of biofilm formation, extracellular polymeric substances production, microbial viability, and microbial community. In the end, the knowledge gaps in current researches are analyzed, and the requirements for future study are suggested.

UV light tolerance and reactivation potential of tetracycline-resistant bacteria from secondary effluents of a wastewater treatment plant

Tetracycline-resistant bacteria（TRB） are of concern as emerging microbial contaminants in reclaimed water.To understand the effects of UV disinfection on TRB,both inactivation and reactivation profiles of TRB,as well as 16 tetracycline-resistant isolates from secondary effluent,were characterized in this study.The inactivation ratio of TRB was significantly lower（3.0-log） than that of heterotrophic bacteria（〉4.0-log） in the secondary effluent.Additionally,the proportion of TRB significantly increased from 1.65%to 15.51%under20 mJ/cm^2 ultraviolet（UV） exposure.The inactivation rates of tetracycline-resistant isolates ranged from 0.57/s to 1.04/s,of which tetracycline-resistant Enterobacter-1 was the most tolerant to UV light.The reactivation of TRB,tetracycline-resistant isolated strains,as well as heterotrophic bacteria commonly occurred in the secondary effluent even after20 mJ/cm^2 UV exposure.The colony forming ability of TRB and heterotrophic bacteria reached 3.2-log and 3.0-log under 20 mJ/cm^2 UV exposure after 22 hr incubation.The final inactivation ratio of tetracycline-resistant Enterobacter-1 was 1.18-log under 20 mJ/cm^2 UV exposure after 22 hr incubation,which is similar to those of TRB（1.18-log） and heterotrophic bacteria（1.19-log）.The increased proportion of TRB and the reactivation of tetracycline-resistant enterobacteria in reclaimed water could induce a microbial health risk during wastewater reuse.