Microbial Removal from Secondary Treated Wastewater Using a Hybrid System of Ultrafiltration and Reverse Osmosis

The efficiency of advanced membranes towards removal of general and specific microbes from wastewater was investigated. The treatment included a subsequent system of activated sludge, ultrafiltration （hollow fibre membranes with 100 kDa cut-off, and spiral wound membranes with 20 kDa cut-off）, and RO （reverse osmosis）. The removal evaluation of screened microbes present in treated wastewater showed that hollow fibre membrane rejected only 1 log （90% rejection） of the TPC （total microbial count）, TC （total coliforms）, and FC （faecal coliforms）. A higher effectiveness was observed with spiral wound, removing 2-3 logs （99%-99.9%） of TPC and complete rejection of TC and FC. The RO system was successful in total rejection of all received bacteria. The removal evaluation of inoculated specific types of bacteria showed that the hollow membranes removed 2 logs （99%） of inoculated E. coli （10^7-10^8 cfu/mL inoculum）, 2-3 logs （99%-99.9%） of Enterococus spp. （10^7-10^10 cfu/mL inoculum）, 1-2 logs （90%-99%） of Salmonella （10^8-10^10 cfu/mL inoculum） and 1-2 logs （90%-99%） of Shigella （10^5-10^6 cfu/mL inoculum）. The spiral wound was significantly efficient in rejecting further 3 logs of E. coil, 5 logs of Enterococus spp., 4 logs of Salmonella, and a complete rejection of all received bacteria was accomplished by RO membrane. The results indicate that Gram positive bacteria were removed much more efficiently compared to the Gram negative ones, the rationale behind such behaviour is based on cell walls elasticity.

Microbial Characterization of Denitrifying Sulfide Removal Sludge Using High-Throughput Amplicon Sequencing Method

The denitrifying sulfide removal(DSR) process has recently been studied extensively from an engineering perspective. However, the importance of microbial communities of this process was generally underestimated. In this study, the microbial community structure of a lab-scale DSR reactor was characterized in order to provide a comprehensive insight into the key microbial groups in DSR system. Results from high-throughput sequencing analysis revealed that the fraction of autotrophic denitrifiers increased from 2.34 % to 10.93% and 44.51% in the DSR system when the influent Na Cl increased from 0 g/L, to 4 g/L and 30 g/L, respectively. On the contrary, the fraction of heterotrophic denitrifiers decreased from 61.74% to 39.57%, and 24.12%, respectively. Azoarcus and Thiobacillus were the main autotrophic denitrifiers, and Thauera was the main hetetrophic denitrifier during the whole process. This study could be useful for better understanding the interaction between autotrophs and heterotrophs in DSR system.

Performance Evaluation of Two Series Vertical Flow Filters for Wastewater Treatment: A Case Study of the Prototype Installed at Gaston Berger University, Saint-Louis, Senegal

This paper evaluates the efficacy of two sequential vertical flow filters (VFF), FV1 and FV2, implanted with Typha, in a pilot-scale wastewater treatment system. FV1 comprises three cells (FV1a, FV1b, and FV1c), while FV2 consists of two cells (FV2a and FV2b), each designed to reduce various physicochemical and microbiological pollutants from wastewater. Quantitative analyses show significant reductions in electrical conductivity (from 1331 to 1061 μS/cm), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5 from 655.6 to 2.3 mg/L), chemical oxygen demand (COD from 1240 to 82.2 mg/L), total nitrogen (from 188 to 37.3 mg/L), and phosphates (from 70.9 to 14.6 mg/L). Notably, FV2 outperforms FV1, particularly in decreasing dissolved salts and BOD5 to remarkably low levels. Microbiological assessments reveal a substantial reduction in fecal coliforms, from an initial concentration of 7.5 log CFU/100mL to 3.7 log CFU/100mL, and a complete elimination of helminth eggs, achieving a 100% reduction rate in FV2. The study highlights the impact of design parameters, such as filter material, media depth, and plant species selection, on treatment outcomes. The findings suggest that the judicious choice of these components is critical for optimizing pollutant removal. For instance, different filtration materials show varying efficacies, with silex plus river gravel in FV1c achieving superior pollutant reduction rates. In conclusion, VFFs emerge as a promising solution for wastewater treatment, underscoring the importance of design optimization to enhance system efficiency. Continuous monitoring and adaptation of treatment practices are imperative to ensure water quality, allowing for safe environmental discharge or water reuse. The research advocates for ongoing improvements in wastewater treatment technologies, considering the environmental challenges of the current era. The study concludes with a call for further research to maximize the effectiveness of VFFs in water management.

Performance of Micelle-Clay Filters for Removing Pollutants and Bacteria from Tertiary Treated Wastewater

Filters filled with a micelle-clay complex mixed with sand were employed to investigate their purification capability of tertiary treated wastewater with loose UF-membranes. The UF membrane was hollow fiber with a molecular weight cutoff of 100 kD. The complex was prepared from the organic cation octadecyltrimethylammonium （ODTMA） and the negatively charged clay-mineral, montmoriIIonite. This complex has a very large surface area, which includes large hydrophobic domains and is positively charged, about half of the cation exchange capacity of the clay. Two sets of filtration experiments were carried out at flow rates of 1.2 and 50 mL/min, which correspond to flow velocities of 3.7 and 153 cm/h, respectively. In the first case, after a passage of 1 L, the turbidity, total suspended solids （TSS）, fecal coliforms （FC）, and total coliforms （TC） were reduced to zero from 14 NTU, 6 ppm, 350 and 10,000 counts per 100 mL, respectively. In the second case, the numbers of FC and TC were reduced from 50,000/100 mL to zero after the passage of 14 L. The values of COD and BOD were reduced several-fold. The conclusion is that the incorporation of micelle-clay filters in the sewage treatment system with loose tertiary capability is promising and warrants larger scale experiments for optimization of the overall system.

Performance and recent improvement in microbial fuel cells for simultaneous carbon and nitrogen removal: A review

Microbial fuel cells（MFCs） have become a promising technology for wastewater treatment accompanying electricity generation. Carbon and nitrogen removal can be achieved by utilizing the electron transfer between the anode and cathode in an MFC. However,large-scale power production and high removal efficiency must be achieved at a low cost to make MFCs practical and economically competitive in the future. This article reviews the principles, feasibility and bottlenecks of MFCs for simultaneous carbon and nitrogen removal, the recent advances and prospective strategies for performance improvement, as well as the involved microbes and electron transfer mechanisms.

Investigation on removal pathways of Di 2-ethyl hexyl phthalate from synthetic municipal wastewater using a submerged membrane bioreactor

Highly hydrophobic Di 2-ethyl hexyl phthalate（DEHP） is one of the most prevalent plasticizers in wastewaters. Since its half-life in biological treatment is around 25 days, it can be used as an efficiency indicator of wastewater treatment plant for the removal of hydrophobic emerging contaminants. In this study, the performance of submerged membrane bioreactor was monitored to understand the effect of DEHP on the growth of aerobic microorganisms. The data showed that the chemical oxygen demand（COD）and ammonia concentration were detected below 10 and 1.0 mg/L, respectively for operating conditions of hydraulic retention time（HRT） = 4 and 6 hr, sludge retention time（SRT） = 140 day and sludge concentration between 11.5 and 15.8 g volatile solid（VS）/L. The removal efficiency of DEHP under these conditions was higher and ranged between 91% and 98%. Results also showed that the removal efficiency of DEHP in biological treatment depended on the concentration of sludge, as adsorption is the main mechanism of its removal. For the submerged membrane bioreactor, the pore size is the pivotal factor for DEHP removal, since it determines the amount of soluble microbial products coming out of the process. Highly assimilated microorganisms increase the biodegradation rate, as 74% of inlet DEHP was biodegraded; however, the concentration of DEHP inside sludge was beyond the discharge limit. Understanding the fate of DEHP in membrane bioreactor,which is one of the most promising and futuristic treatment process could provide replacement for conventional processes to satisfy the future stricter regulations on emerging contaminants.

Preparation and characterization of a novel microorganism embedding material for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification

A novel microorganism embedding material was prepared to enhance the biological nitrogen removal through simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. Polyvinyl alcohol （PVA）, sodium alginate （SA） and cyclodextrin （CD） were used to compose gel bead with embedded activated sludge. The effects of temperature, CD addition and concentrations of PYA and SA on nitrogen removal were evaluated. Results show that the gel bead with CD addition at 30℃contributed to the highest nitrogen removal efficiency and nitrogen removal rate of 85.4% and 2.08 mg·（L·h）^-1, respectively. Meanwhile, negligible NO3^- and NO2^- were observed, proving the occurrence of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. The High-Throughput Sequencing confirms that the microbial community mainly contained Comamonadaceae in the proportion of 61.3%. Overall, CD increased gel bead＇s porosity and resulted in the high specific endogenous respiration rate and high nitrogen removal efficiency, which is a favorable additional agent to the traditional embedding material.