Digital Twins for Wastewater Treatment:A Technical Review

The digital twins concept enhances modeling and simulation through the integration of real-time data and feedback.This review elucidates the foundational elements of digital twins,covering their concept,entities,domains,and key technologies.More specifically,we investigate the transformative potential of digital twins for the wastewater treatment engineering sector.Our discussion highlights the application of digital twins to wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs)and sewage networks,hardware(i.e.,facilities and pipes,sensors for water quality and activated sludge,hydrodynamics,and power consumption),and software(i.e.,knowledge-based and data-driven models,mechanistic models,hybrid twins,control methods,and the Internet of Things).Furthermore,two cases are provided,followed by an assessment of current challenges in and perspectives on the application of digital twins in WWTPs.This review serves as an essential primer for wastewater engineers navigating the digital paradigm shift.

Performance of a Horizontal Flow Constructed Reed Bed Filter for Municipal Wastewater Treatment: The Case Study of the Prototype Installed at Gaston Berger University, Saint-Louis, Senegal

In Saint-Louis, Senegal, a constructed wetland with horizontal flow reed beds (FHa and FHb) has demonstrated significant efficacy in treating municipal wastewater. Analyzing various treatment stages, the system showed only a slight temperature variation, from an influent average of 26.3°C to an effluent of 24.7°C. Electrical conductivity decreased from 1331 mS/cm to 974.5 mS/cm post-primary treatment, with suspended solids (SS) dramatically reduced from 718.9 mg/L to 5.7 mg/L in the final effluent. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) saw a notable decrease, from initial levels of 655.6 mg/L and 1240 mg/L to 2.3 mg/L and 71.3 mg/L, respectively. Nitrogenous compounds (N-TN) and phosphates () also decreased significantly, indicating the system’s nutrient removal capacity. Microbiological analysis revealed a reduction in fecal coliforms from 7.5 Ulog/100ml to 1.8 Ulog/100ml and a complete elimination of helminth eggs. The presence of Phragmites and Typha was instrumental in enhancing these reductions. The system’s compliance with the Senegalese standards for disposal into natural environments, WHO recommendations for unrestricted water reuse in irrigation, and the European legislation for water reuse was established. The effluent quality met the stringent criteria for various classes of agricultural reuse, illustrating the system’s potential for sustainable water management. This wetland model presents a robust solution for water-stressed regions, ensuring environmental protection while supporting agricultural needs. The study calls for ongoing research to further refine the system for optimal, reliable wastewater treatment and water resource sustainability.

Occurrences of Glucocorticoids in Aquatic Environment and Their Removal during Wastewater Treatment

Glucocorticoids(GCs) are a group of endocrine-disrupting compounds(EDCs) frequently prescribed against various medical conditions.Recently,GCs have been shown to be effective in managing septic shock in patients infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus(COVID-19).Due to colossal consumption and potential risks to aquatic organisms,GCs have immensely attracted the focus of the scientific research community as a water pollutant.Therefore,the aim of this paper is to review the current knowledge on the occurrence of various GCs in the aquatic environment and their removal during wastewater treatment.A variety of GCs are ubiquitous in surface water,hospital wastewater,and sewage water worldwide.And the minimum concentration in volume is below 0.01 ng/L,and the maximum one is 10 000 ng/L,and enter the environment through hospital and urban wastewater discharging.Compared with natural GCs,higher risks to aquatic environments could be induced by synthetic GCs.The current activated sludge processes used in wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs) are not fully effective in eliminating GCs,some of which may further increase the risk of GC in the environment.In comparison with the aerobic process in WWTPs,the anaerobic and anoxic processes were found to be more efficient for GC degradation.Of the studied GCs,fluticasone propionate,clobetasol propionate,fluocinolone acetonide,and triamcinolone acetonide need more attention due to their low removal efficiencies and strong toxicity.Among the advanced treatment processes,reverse osmosis,ultraviolet irradiation,CaO_(2),and plasma could achieve significant GC activity removal while micro/ultra-filtration,chlorination,and ozonation were less efficient.

Advanced Treatment of Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent by Using Biofilms on Filamentous Bamboo

[ Objective ] The study aimed at treating wastewater treatment plant （WWTP） effluent by using bio-film reactor with filamentous bamboo as bio-carrier. [ Method] With the aid of a continuous flow reactor, a bio-film reactor using filamentous bamboo as bio-carrier was used to treat WWTP effluent with low C/N ratio, and the removal effects of CODc,, TN （total nitrogen）, and NO3--N in the wastewater were analyzed.[ Result ] The average removal rates of CODcr, TN, and NO3- -N reached 47.7%, 23.6% and 34.5% when the C/N ratio of influent was around 2. In addi- tion, a stable bio-film was formed very well in the secondary effluent with low C/N ratio and hardly degradable organic pollutants. The pollutants could be removed effectively because of the excellent surface characteristics and compositions of filamentous bamboo. [ Conclusion] The research provides a new method to treat WWTP effluent with low C/N ratio.

Sludge reduction with Tubificidae and the impact on the performance of the wastewater treatment process

To reduce excess sludge, a Tubificidae reactor was combined with an integrated oxidation ditch with vertical circle （IODVC）, and a new integrated system was developed for wastewater treatment, A pilot-scale of this integrated system was tested to investigate the sludge reduction with Tubificidae and the impact on effluent quality and sludge production. The dominant worm was Branchnria Sowerbyi in the Tubificidae reactor after inoculation of Branchnria Sowerbyi and Limnodrilns sp., and the maximal volume density of wet Tubificidae in vessels of the Tubificidae reactor was 17600 g/m^3. Two operational modes, treating the excess sludge （first mode） and the returned sludge （second mode） of IODVC by the Tubificidae reactor, were used in this experiment. The results showed that the excess sludge reduction rate was 46.4% in the first mode, and the average sludge yield of the integrated system was 6.19× 10^-5 kg SS/kg COD in the second mode. Though the sludge returned to IODVC via the Tubificidae reactor, it had little impact on the effluent quality and the sludge characteristics of the IODVC. No new type of recalcitrant substance in the supernatant was discharged into the environment when the sludge was treated by Tubificidae. The experimental results also indicated that no significant changes occurred on the viscosity, specific resistance, and the floc size distribution of the sludge.

Advances in Control Technologies for Wastewater Treatment Processes:Status, Challenges, and Perspectives

This paper presents a thorough review of control technologies that have been applied to wastewater treatment processes in the environmental engineering regime in the past four decades. It aims to provide a comprehensive technological review for both water engineering professionals and control specialists, giving rise to a suite of up-to-date pathways to impact this field in light of the classified technology hubs. The assessment was conducted with respect to linear control, linearizing control,nonlinear control, and artificial intelligence-based control. The application domain of each technology hub was summarized into a set of comparative tables for a holistic assessment. Challenges and perspectives were offered to these field engineers to help orient their future endeavor.

Application of Constructed Wetlands on Wastewater Treatment for Aquaculture Ponds

A group of constructed wetlands （CWs） were applied to the recirculating aquaculture system. This study assessed the performance of CWs in treating the aquaculture wastewater, examined the water quality condition of aquaculture ponds and the growth and the survival rate of ＂target＂ species （Ictalurus punctatus and Megalobrama amblycephala）. The results showed that CWs were effective on reducing the concentrations of 5-day biochemical oxygen demand （BOD5, at 70.5%）, total suspended solids （TSS, at 81.9%）, chlorophyll a （Chl-a, at 91.9%）, ammonium （NH4^＋, at 61.5%） and nitrate nitrogen （NOa-N, at 68.0%）. Effect of CWs on phosphate （PO43 -P） removal was relatively lower （at 20.0%）. The concentrations of BODs, TSS, Chl-a, NH4^＋ and TN, TP in the recirculating culture pond were significantly lower than that in the control pond（ p〈0.05 ）. CWs could help to increase total yield, survival rate of the ＂target＂ species and significantly decrease feed conversion ratio （ p〈0.05 ）.

A two-stage anaerobic system for biodegrading wastewater containing terephthalic acid and high strength easily degradable pollutants

The high strength easily biodegradable pollutants (represented by COD E) are strong inhibitors of terephthalic acid (TA) anaerobic biodegradation. At the same time, TA can inhibit easily biodegradable pollutants removal under anaerobic conditions to a limited extent. This mutual inhibition could happen and cause a low removal efficiency of both TA and COD E, when the effluent from TA workshops containing TA and easily biodegradable pollutants are treated by a single anaerobic reactor system. Based upon the treatment kinetics analysis of both TA degradation and COD E removal, a two stage up flow anaerobic sludge blanket and up flow fixed film reactor(UASB UAFF) system for dealing with this kind of wastewater was developed and run successfully at laboratory scale. An UASB reactor with the methanogenic consortium as the first stage removes the easily biodegradable pollutants(COD E). An UAFF reactor as the second stage is mainly in charge of TA degradation. At a COD E loading of 15.3 g/(L\5d) and a TA loading of 1.4 g/(L\5d), HRT 18.5h, the COD E and TA removal rate of the system reached 89.2% and 71.6%, respectively.

Why Should We Bother on Measurement in Wastewater Treatment Operation?

The question of wastewater treatment and control is reflected from a very specific viewpoint: the low priority given to accurate and useful measurements within wastewater treatment. The matter is discussed from four various perspectives, that may be labelled “Legal understanding”;“Needs for accurate measurement results already in the planning and design stage”;“The measurement problem and human behaviour”;“The understanding of the short term and long term dynamics and changes in pollution and flow loads on a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)”. All these aspects bring about much improved needs for an accurate and frequent measurement scheme both for pollutants and flows entering a WWTP. The conclusion is stated as follows: A far more and well elaborated on-line measurement system at the plants would become a needed tool for improved water environment protection at lower costs.

Full scale application of combined SBF-AS process for municipal wastewater treatment in small towns and cities in China

The combined submerged biofilm （ SBF）-activated sludge （AS） process for treatment of municipal wastewater in a small city in China is described in this paper. The process exhibited high removal efficiencies for carbonaceous substances, nitrogen and phosphorus which mainly took place in the combined SBF-AS biore- actor. The SBF-AS bioreactor was divided into pre-anoxic, anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic zones from inlet to outlet, in which fixed biofilm carriers were packed. Excellent performance had been obtained under normal operating conditions in more than one year of operation in Dong＇ e municipal WWTP, Shandong province, with mean removal efficiencies of BOD5 93.4%, COD 88%, SS 92%, NH4 - N 82. 1%, TP 75% and TN 66.7%, and quite high effluent quality such as BOD5 6 to 10 rag/L, COD 20 to 40 rag/L, SS 5 to 10 rag/L, TN 10 to 20 rag/L, NH4 - N 4 to 8 mg/L and TP 0. 6 to 1.0 mg/L. The effluent was reused multi-purposely, such as toilet flushing, green belt watering and artificial lake pounding. Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification took place due to the DO gradient in biofilm in aerobic zone of the SBF-AS bioreactor, which made TN removal efficiency improved remarkably in system. Some activated sludge was returned from final clarifiers to the bioreactor for phosphorus removal. The process had the advantages of low investment and low operational/ maintenance （O/M） costs, low sludge yield and was preferably employed in small towns and cities.

Rapid infiltration wastewater treatment for small communities in Beijing

This rapid infiltration (RI) system is proposed as the first one in China. The RI system treated 500 m3/d of municipal and industrial wastewater. About 0.36 ha of field was used. It has been evaluated that the RI system has an excellent ability to treat the wastewater. The infiltration rate was 50.3 m/a.

Ecological engineering land treatment systems──A new development in China

This paper elucidated the necessity and possibility of developing the technology of land treatment on the basis of the analysis of shortage and pollution status of water resources in China.The historical development of this technology in the world was briefly reviewed and the distinction between land treatment and conventional wastewater irrigation was discussed in details. The fundamental characteristics and functions as well as the integrity and compatibility of this ecological engineering were also summarized. It was finally concluded that this technology for wastewater treatment has broad prospects of application in China.

Purification and reclamation of wastewater by an integrated biological pond system

The feasibility of an inexpensive wastewater treatment system is evaluated in this study.The experiment was conducted in 3 phases with different treatment combinations for testing theirpurification efficiencies. The pond system was divided into 3 functional regions: influentpurification, efficient upgrading and multi-utilization. Various kinds of aquatic organisms, wereeffectively cooperated in this system. The system attained high reduction of BOD_5, COD, TSS, TN,TP and other pollutants. The mutagenic effect and number of bacteria and virus significantly de-clined during the process of purifieation. After the wastewater flowed through the upgrading zone,the concentrations of pollutants and algae evidently decreased. Plant harvesting did not yield drama-tic effects on reductions of the main pollutants, through it did affect remarkably the biomassproductivity of the macrophytes. The wastewater was reclaimed for various purposes.

Impact of wastewater treatment plant effluent discharge on the antibiotic resistome in downstream aquatic environments:a mini review

Antimicrobial resistance(AMR)has emerged as a significant challenge in human health.Wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs),acting as a link between human activities and the environment,create ideal conditions for the selection and spread of antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs)and antibioticresistant bacteria(ARB).Unfortunately,current treatment processes are ineffective in removing ARGs,resulting in the release of large quantities of ARB and ARGs into the aquatic environment through WWTP effluents.This,in turn,leads to their dispersion and potential transmission to human through water and the food chain.To safeguard human and environmental health,it is crucial to comprehend the mechanisms by which WWTP effluent discharge influences the distribution and diffusion of ARGs in downstream waterbodies.In this study,we examine the latest researches on the antibiotic resistome in various waterbodies that have been exposed to WWTP effluent,highlighting the key influencing mechanisms.Furthermore,recommendations for future research and management strategies to control the dissemination of ARGs from WWTPs to the environment are provided,with the aim to achieve the“One Health”objective.

Phytoremediation of urban wastewater by model wetlands with ornamental hydrophytes

Phytoremediation offers a cost-effective, non-intrusive, and safe alternative to conventional cleanup techniques. In this study, we used ornamental hydrophytes plants as constructed wetlands to treat urban or rural domestic wastewater. Most ornamental hydrophytes adapted to the wastewater well, and were fairly efficient in scavenging BOD5 （biological oxygen demand 5 d）, COD （chemical oxygen demand）, TN （total nitrogen）, TP （total phosphorus） and heavy metals （Cr, Pb, Cd） in the wastewater. However, the efficiency varied a lot for various species to different contaminants, Iris pseudacorus L. and Acorus gramineus Soland were good choices for treatment of composite-polluted urban wastewater. Some variation in the change of membrane peroxidation and endogenous protective system in responses to wastewater was found among six hydrophytes, which have a correlation with the efficiency of wastewater treatment. It may demonstrate that the developed antioxidative systems of L pseudacorus and A. gramineus contributed much to their superiority. On the other hand, interaction of different components in the wastewater might have certain effects on phytoremediation.

Approaches to municipal wastewater irrigation and environmental protection

To reuse the water and nutrient resources from ecological point of view the goals, criteria and constraint conditions of the scientifically municipal wastewater irrigation are discussed as well as the practice in major municipal wastewater irrigation areas in China is introduced, of which particularly the effects of municipal water irrigation mixing with oil refinery wastewater on the agricultural ecosystem are studied and described. It has been revealed that benzo(a)pyrene in various parts of paddy crop is attributed to air pollution, water-soil pollution and biosynthesis of plant. Of exogenous contributions of benzo(a)pyrene in paddy shoot system under natural condition, the dominant factor is the air pollution, whereas the water-soil factor is considered to be secondary. Therefore, it is mostly urgent to control the air pollution source of benzo(a)pyrene, to which the edible parts of various green plants are exposed directly.

造纸污水深度处理自动监控系统设计研究

面对我国工业污水处理领域,特别是造纸污水处理的自动监控技术还显得较为滞后,相关学术成果匮乏,迫切需要加强此领域的技术研究与创新。当前,虽然多种智能控制技术各有所长,但也不无不足。因此,融合多元智能控制技术或将其与传统控制策略相结合的集成控制技术,对优化污水处理控制系统的设计,包括软件和硬件架构,显得尤为关键。实践证明,采用此类集成控制技术的污水处理系统能够实现稳定可靠的运行,不但满足了国家对污水排放的标准,而且符合节能减排的政策要求,带来了明显的经济与社会双重效益。这一领域的深入研究和技术进步,对促进我国环保事业的发展具有重要意义。

鞍钢鲅鱼圈焦化废水减量及回用改造实践

介绍了鞍钢鲅鱼圈焦化废水处理工艺运行概况,分析了焦化废水工艺存在的问题,通过提升预处理单元、生化处理系统和深度处理系统的功能,新增膜脱盐处理系统,大大提升了焦化废水系统出水水质,中水回用率达到70%以上。最终膜脱盐处理系统的浓水水质指标达到了《炼焦化学工业污染物排放标准》(GB 16171—2012)中的间排标准,全部回用于烧结混料,净水全部回用于循环水系统,实现了焦化废水零排放的目标。

深圳沙河水质净化厂及3#调蓄池工艺设计要点及特点

沙河水质净化厂设计规模为旱季10万m^(3)/d,雨季额外处理10万m^(3)/d初期雨水,3#调蓄池设计规模为15.3万m^(3)。污水及初期雨水处理采用预处理+多段厌氧-好氧(AO)+二沉池+磁混凝高效沉淀池+精密过滤+紫外消毒的工艺,出水水质执行深圳市地方标准《水质净化厂出水水质规范》(DB 4403/T 64—2020)B级标准,其中总氮(TN)≤8 mg/L。污泥处理采用离心浓缩+低温热干化工艺,处理后含水率≤40%。作为国内首个将水质净化厂与初期雨水调蓄池深度融合的全地下式水污染治理综合体,项目采用多段AO耦合“3W法”(Wet-Weather-Wastewater法),并以此为核心提出了一种实现大规模污水及初期雨水高标准协同处理的系统解决方案,且无需大幅度增加污水处理设施体量、投资和运行成本。

造纸污水处理自动监控系统设计

重点研究一种创新的造纸污水连续深度处理自动监控系统,满足造纸过程中对污水处理监测的需求。首先,分析了试验型造纸污水光电催化深度处理系统的技术原理和特点,明确了监控系统的功能需求、设计目标和总体架构。其次,详细阐述了上位机和下位机系统的设计方法和实现步骤。为了评估监控系统的性能和效果,选取甲基绿染料废水作为模拟造纸污水,进行了光电催化深度处理实验,并对监控系统进行了全面的调试和运行测试。实验结果表明,监控系统能够有效地实现造纸污水连续深度处理的自动化,具有较高的稳定性和可靠性。