Value-added innovation in infrastructure systems, lessons learned from wastewater treatment plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1049-1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shervin Jamshidi
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Organic Fertilizers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Managerial System

PurposeWastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are evolving toward sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how innovation can develop these mission-based service industries to value-added manufacturing enterprises. Here, innovation is embedded in altering the understanding of stakeholders toward the objectives and managerial systems of these infrastructures.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses multidisciplinary principles in management, economics and engineering to assess the integration of innovation and quality management with different perspectives. It initially compares the conventional and innovative approach for operating WWTPs. Subsequently, it emphasizes the contribution of the tailor-made managerial system of wastewater treatment enterprises through prospective markets, customers’ preferences, probable competitions and shared values.FindingsThe tailor-made managerial system for wastewater treatment can add economic values by manufacturing multiple demand products for local markets. Water, green energy, organic fertilizers and raw materials are the main products that can be simultaneously recovered according to the customers’ demand. The Kano model also verifies that the new managerial system has this potential to turn the conventional must-be treatment systems into delightful enterprises. It can provide different stakeholders with shared social and environmental values. Accordingly, locals and customers can be engaged in monitoring the quality of products to consider their feedback for decision making and upgrading. This indirectly defines shared values among operators and society to reinforce localization and ecosystem protection. Additionally, this research reveals that the market of the aforementioned strategic products is promising as a blue ocean for set sail due to the lack of competitors.Originality/valueThis study introduces wastewater treatment as a promising enterprise for integrating innovation and quality management.

scholarly journals Application of the anaerobic co-digestion method to sewage sludge treatment toward recover green energy and utilize nutrients for agriculture

2021 ◽  
Vol 926 (1) ◽  
pp. 012097
Author(s):  
T Tran ◽  
L T A Hong ◽  
L V Tan
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Calorific Value ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Organic Fertilizers ◽  
Treatment Needs ◽  
Digestion Method ◽  
Sludge Treatment ◽  
Urban Wastewater Treatment

Abstract Sewage sludge after urban wastewater treatment needs to be treated intelligently to get maximum benefits. This study proposes a method of anaerobic co-degradation of agricultural sludge and residues to both solve environmental problems and recover a large amount of biogas and organic fertilizers. The results show the potential for energy recovery from biogas and impact assessment of the application directly on the rice fields. It is estimated that biogas recovery from sludge treatment from wastewater treatment plants gives a calorific value of about 76 × 106 MJ/year. Results from the trial crop showed that fertilizer shows good supportability to the plant. The results show that the fertilizer from sewage sludge can be reduced and replaced by 50% to 100% of the number of chemical fertilizers but still give the same yield. The data show that the anaerobic co-digestion method is a suitable method for sludge treatment. The dual objective is to provide valuable benefits from recovered biogas and anaerobic digestion products.

scholarly journals Bacteria from the Genus Arcobacter Are Abundant in Effluent from Wastewater Treatment Plants

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jannie Munk Kristensen ◽  
Marta Nierychlo ◽  
Mads Albertsen ◽  
Per Halkjær Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Pathogenic Bacteria ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Effluent Quality ◽  
Culture Independent ◽  
Influent Wastewater

ABSTRACT Pathogenic bacteria in wastewater are generally considered to be efficiently removed in biological wastewater treatment plants. This understanding is almost solely based on culture-based control measures, and here we show, by applying culture-independent methods, that the removal of species in the genus Arcobacter was less effective than for many other abundant genera in the influent wastewater. Arcobacter was one of the most abundant genera in influent wastewater at 14 municipal wastewater treatment plants and was also abundant in the “clean” effluent from all the plants, reaching up to 30% of all bacteria as analyzed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Metagenomic analyses, culturing, genome sequencing of Arcobacter isolates, and visualization by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) confirmed the presence of the human-pathogenic Arcobacter cryaerophilus and A. butzleri in both influent and effluent. The main reason for the high relative abundance in the effluent was probably that Arcobacter cells, compared to those of other abundant genera in the influent, did not flocculate and attach well to the activated sludge flocs, leaving a relatively large fraction dispersed in the water phase. The study shows there is an urgent need for new standardized culture-independent measurements of pathogens in effluent wastewaters, e.g., amplicon sequencing, and an investigation of the problem on a global scale to quantify the risk for humans and livestock. IMPORTANCE The genus Arcobacter was unexpectedly abundant in the effluent from 14 Danish wastewater treatment plants treating municipal wastewater, and the species included the human-pathogenic A. cryaerophilus and A. butzleri. Recent studies have shown that Arcobacter is common in wastewater worldwide, so the study indicates that discharge of members of the genus Arcobacter may be a global problem, and further studies are needed to quantify the risk and potentially minimize the discharge. The study also shows that culture-based analyses are insufficient for proper effluent quality control, and new standardized culture-independent measurements of effluent quality encompassing most pathogens should be considered.

scholarly journals Sapovirus in Wastewater Treatment Plants in Tunisia: Prevalence, Removal, and Genetic Characterization

2018 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. e02093-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel F. Varela ◽  
Imen Ouardani ◽  
Tsuyoshi Kato ◽  
Syunsuke Kadoya ◽  
Mahjoub Aouni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Bayesian Estimation ◽  
Quantitative Pcr ◽  
Censored Data ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Microbial Risk Assessment ◽  
Microbial Risk

ABSTRACTSapovirus(SaV), from theCaliciviridaefamily, is a genus of enteric viruses that cause acute gastroenteritis. SaV is shed at high concentrations with feces into wastewater, which is usually discharged into aquatic environments or reused for irrigation without efficient treatments. This study analyzed the incidence of human SaV in four wastewater treatment plants from Tunisia during a period of 13 months (December 2009 to December 2010). Detection and quantification were carried out using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) methods, obtaining a prevalence of 39.9% (87/218). Sixty-one positive samples were detected in untreated water and 26 positive samples in processed water. The Dekhila plant presented the highest contamination levels, with a 63.0% prevalence. A dominance of genotype I.2 was observed on 15 of the 24 positive samples that were genetically characterized. By a Bayesian estimation algorithm, the SaV density in wastewater was estimated using left-censored data sets. The mean value of log SaV concentration in untreated wastewater ranged between 2.7 and 4.5 logs. A virus removal efficiency of 0.2 log was calculated for the Dekhila plant as the log ratio posterior distributions between untreated and treated wastewater. Multiple quantitative values obtained in this study must be available in quantitative microbial risk assessment in Tunisia as parameter values reflecting local conditions.IMPORTANCEHuman sapovirus (SaV) is becoming more prevalent worldwide and organisms in this genus are recognized as emerging pathogens associated with human gastroenteritis. The present study describes novel findings on the prevalence, seasonality, and genotype distribution of SaV in Tunisia and Northern Africa. In addition, a statistical approximation using Bayesian estimation of the posterior predictive distribution (“left-censored” data) was employed to solve methodological problems related with the limit of quantification of the quantitative PCR (qPCR). This approach would be helpful for the future development of quantitative microbial risk assessment procedures for wastewater.

scholarly journals ESKAPE Bacteria and Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli Isolated from Wastewater and Process Water from German Poultry Slaughterhouses

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mykhailo Savin ◽  
Gabriele Bierbaum ◽  
Jens Andre Hammerl ◽  
Céline Heinemann ◽  
Marijo Parcina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Process Water ◽  
Resistant Bacteria ◽  
Content Type ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Extended Spectrum ◽  
Clinically Relevant Bacteria

ABSTRACT The wastewater of livestock slaughterhouses is considered a source of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria with clinical relevance and may thus be important for their dissemination into the environment. To get an overview of their occurrence and characteristics, we investigated process water (n = 50) from delivery and unclean areas as well as wastewater (n = 32) from the in-house wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of two German poultry slaughterhouses (slaughterhouses S1 and S2). The samples were screened for ESKAPE bacteria (Enterococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter spp.) and Escherichia coli. Their antimicrobial resistance phenotypes and the presence of extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL), carbapenemase, and mobilizable colistin resistance genes were determined. Selected ESKAPE bacteria were epidemiologically classified using different molecular typing techniques. At least one of the target species was detected in 87.5% (n = 28/32) of the wastewater samples and 86.0% (n = 43/50) of the process water samples. The vast majority of the recovered isolates (94.9%, n = 448/472) was represented by E. coli (39.4%), the A. calcoaceticus-A. baumannii (ACB) complex (32.4%), S. aureus (12.3%), and K. pneumoniae (10.8%), which were widely distributed in the delivery and unclean areas of the individual slaughterhouses, including their wastewater effluents. Enterobacter spp., Enterococcus spp., and P. aeruginosa were less abundant and made up 5.1% of the isolates. Phenotypic and genotypic analyses revealed that the recovered isolates exhibited diverse resistance phenotypes and β-lactamase genes. In conclusion, wastewater effluents from the investigated poultry slaughterhouses exhibited clinically relevant bacteria (E. coli, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, and species of the ACB and Enterobacter cloacae complexes) that contribute to the dissemination of clinically relevant resistances (i.e., blaCTX-M or blaSHV and mcr-1) in the environment. IMPORTANCE Bacteria from livestock may be opportunistic pathogens and carriers of clinically relevant resistance genes, as many antimicrobials are used in both veterinary and human medicine. They may be released into the environment from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which are influenced by wastewater from slaughterhouses, thereby endangering public health. Moreover, process water that accumulates during the slaughtering of poultry is an important reservoir for livestock-associated multidrug-resistant bacteria and may serve as a vector of transmission to occupationally exposed slaughterhouse employees. Mitigation solutions aimed at the reduction of the bacterial discharge into the production water circuit as well as interventions against their further transmission and dissemination need to be elaborated. Furthermore, the efficacy of in-house WWTPs needs to be questioned. Reliable data on the occurrence and diversity of clinically relevant bacteria within the slaughtering production chain and in the WWTP effluents in Germany will help to assess their impact on public and environmental health.

scholarly journals Application and Evaluation of Energy Conservation Technologies in Wastewater Treatment Plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (21) ◽  
pp. 4501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongteng Sun ◽  
Ming Lu ◽  
Yongjun Sun ◽  
Zuguo Chen ◽  
Hao Duan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
System Optimization ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Application Process ◽  
Conservation Technologies

High energy consumption is an important issue affecting the operation and development of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This paper seeks energy-saving opportunities from three aspects: energy application, process optimization, and performance evaluation. Moreover, effective energy-saving can be achieved from the perspective of energy supply and recovery by using green energy technologies, including wastewater and sludge energy recovery technologies. System optimization and control is used to reduce unnecessary energy consumption in operation. Reasonable indexes and methods can help researchers evaluate the application value of energy-saving technology. Some demonstration WWTPs even can achieve energy self-sufficiency by using these energy conservation technologies. Besides, this paper introduces the challenges faced by the wastewater treatment industry and some emerging energy-saving technologies. The work can give engineers some suggestions about reducing energy consumption from comprehensive perspectives.

scholarly journals Picking low hanging fruit? Synergies between strategic quality management and corporate social responsibility

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1393-1411
Author(s):  
Talal Mohammad Alsaif ◽  
Barbara M. Savage ◽  
Deborah M. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Strategic Quality Management ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore and identify the areas in common between strategic quality management (SQM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) from the literature. Studying these areas is important to develop any further connection between SQM and CSR because of both the potential for benefit to organisations and society, and in order to minimise resources needed for effective action by capitalising on synergies. Design/methodology/approach Literature review covering a broad range of publications that addresses the synergies of quality management and CSR to identify areas of commonality and thus simplify CSR implementation. Findings Identification of opportunities for knowledge transfer between SQM and CSR. Practical implications Synergies between SQM and CSR may offer attractive opportunities to capitalise on prior actions and learning, to enhance the value added to an organisation and the society in which it operates. Originality/value This evaluation is a part of a more in-depth research study investigating the relationship between and integration of SQM and CSR, and its application in specific contexts.

scholarly journals Toxigenic Clostridium difficile PCR Ribotypes from Wastewater Treatment Plants in Southern Switzerland

2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (18) ◽  
pp. 6643-6646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenza Romano ◽  
Vincenzo Pasquale ◽  
Karel Krovacek ◽  
Federica Mauri ◽  
Antonella Demarta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Clostridium Difficile ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Binary Toxin ◽  
Toxin B ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Infections ◽  
Reuse Of Treated Wastewater

ABSTRACTThe occurrence ofClostridium difficilein nine wastewater treatment plants in the Ticino Canton (southern Switzerland) was investigated. The samples were collected from raw sewage influents and from treated effluents. Forty-seven out of 55 characterizedC. difficilestrains belonged to 13 different reference PCR ribotypes (009, 010, 014, 015, 039, 052, 053, 066, 070, 078, 101, 106, and 117), whereas 8 strains did not match any of those available in our libraries. The most frequently isolated ribotype (40%) was 078, isolated from six wastewater treatment plants, whereas ribotype 066, a toxigenic emerging ribotype isolated from patients admitted to hospitals in Europe and Switzerland, was isolated from the outgoing effluent of one plant. The majority of the isolates (85%) were toxigenic. Forty-nine percent of them produced toxin A, toxin B, and the binary toxin (toxigenic profile A+B+CDT+), whereas 51% showed the profile A+B+CDT−. Interestingly, eight ribotypes (010, 014, 015, 039, 066, 078, 101, and 106) were among the riboprofiles isolated from symptomatic patients admitted to the hospitals of the Ticino Canton in 2010. Despite the limitation of sampling, this study highlights that toxigenic ribotypes ofC. difficileinvolved in human infections may occur in both incoming and outgoing biological wastewater treatment plants. Such a finding raises concern about the possible contamination of water bodies that receive wastewater treatment plant effluents and about the safe reuse of treated wastewater.

scholarly journals Casimicrobium huifangae gen. nov., sp. nov., a Ubiquitous “Most-Wanted” Core Bacterial Taxon from Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Song ◽  
Cheng-Ying Jiang ◽  
Zong-Lin Liang ◽  
Bao-Jun Wang ◽  
Yong Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Short Chain Fatty Acids ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bacterial Taxon ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants

ABSTRACT Microorganisms in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play a key role in the removal of pollutants from municipal and industrial wastewaters. A recent study estimated that activated sludge from global municipal WWTPs harbors 1 × 109 to 2 × 109 microbial species, the majority of which have not yet been cultivated, and 28 core taxa were identified as “most-wanted” ones (L. Wu, D. Ning, B. Zhang, Y. Li, et al., Nat Microbiol 4:1183–1195, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-019-0426-5). Cultivation and characterization of the “most-wanted” core bacteria are critical to understand their genetic, physiological, phylogenetic, and ecological traits, as well as to improve the performance of WWTPs. In this study, we isolated a bacterial strain, designated SJ-1, that represents a novel cluster within Betaproteobacteria and corresponds to OTU_16 within the 28 core taxa in the “most-wanted” list. Strain SJ-1 was identified and nominated as Casimicrobium huifangae gen. nov., sp. nov., of a novel family, Casimicrobiaceae. C. huifangae is ubiquitously distributed and is metabolically versatile. In addition to mineralizing various carbon sources (including carbohydrates, aromatic compounds, and short-chain fatty acids), C. huifangae is capable of nitrate reduction and phosphorus accumulation. The population of C. huifangae accounted for more than 1% of the bacterial population of the activated sludge microbiome from the Qinghe WWTP, which showed seasonal dynamic changes. Cooccurrence analysis suggested that C. huifangae was an important module hub in the bacterial network of Qinghe WWTP. IMPORTANCE The activated sludge process is the most widely applied biotechnology and is one of the best ecosystems to address microbial ecological principles. Yet, the cultivation of core bacteria and the exploration of their physiology and ecology are limited. In this study, the core and novel bacterial taxon C. huifangae was cultivated and characterized. This study revealed that C. huifangae functioned as an important module hub in the activated sludge microbiome, and it potentially plays an important role in municipal wastewater treatment plants.

scholarly journals Genome Sequence of “Candidatus Microthrix parvicella” Bio17-1, a Long-Chain-Fatty-Acid-Accumulating Filamentous Actinobacterium from a Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant

2012 ◽  
Vol 194 (23) ◽  
pp. 6670-6671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilie E. L. Muller ◽  
Nicolás Pinel ◽  
John D. Gillece ◽  
James M. Schupp ◽  
Lance B. Price ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Genome Sequence ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Draft Genome ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Biological Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Long Chain Fatty Acid ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Air Interface ◽  
Microthrix Parvicella

ABSTRACT“CandidatusMicrothrix” bacteria are deeply branching filamentous actinobacteria which occur at the water-air interface of biological wastewater treatment plants, where they are often responsible for foaming and bulking. Here, we report the first draft genome sequence of a strain from this genus: “CandidatusMicrothrix parvicella” strain Bio17-1.

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