scholarly journals Photocatalytic ZnO-Assisted Degradation of Spiramycin in Urban Wastewater: Degradation Kinetics and Toxicity

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1051
Author(s):  
Davide Anselmo Luigi Vignati ◽  
Giusy Lofrano ◽  
Giovanni Libralato ◽  
Marco Guida ◽  
Antonietta Siciliano ◽  
...  

The removal of contaminants of emerging concern from urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) remains a challenge to promote safe wastewater reuse practices. Macrolides are the most abundant antibiotics detected in untreated wastewater and their concentration in WWTPs effluents is only partially reduced by conventional treatments. Among several advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), photocatalysis has demonstrated the capability to effectively remove pharmaceuticals from different aqueous matrices. Recently, ZnO has emerged as an efficient, promising, and less expensive alternative to TiO2, due to its photocatalytic capability and attitude to exploit better the solar spectrum than TiO2. In this study, the behaviors of ZnO photocatalysis were evaluated using a representative macrolide antibiotic, spiramycin (SPY), in aqueous solutions and urban wastewater. After 80 min of photocatalysis, 95–99% removal of SPY was achieved at 1 g L−1 ZnO concentrations in aqueous solutions and wastewater, respectively. After treatment, the effluent toxicity, evaluated using the bacterium Aliivibrio fischeri, the green alga Raphidocelis subcapitata, and the crustacean Daphnia magna ranged between slight acute and high acute hazard. Filterable and ultrafilterable Zn concentrations were quantified in treated effluents and shown to be high enough to contribute to the observed toxicity.

Pedosphere ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 756-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao WANG ◽  
Xiao-Chen LI ◽  
Pei-Fang WANG ◽  
Li-Min ZOU ◽  
Hai-Tao MA

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1567
Author(s):  
Francesco Triggiano ◽  
Carla Calia ◽  
Giusy Diella ◽  
Maria Teresa Montagna ◽  
Osvalda De Giglio ◽  
...  

Scientific studies show that urban wastewater treatment plants (UWWTP) are among the main sources of release of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) into the environment, representing a risk to human health. This review summarizes selected publications from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019, with particular attention to the presence and treatment of ARG and ARB in UWWTPs in Italy. Following a brief introduction, the review is divided into three sections: (i) phenotypic assessment (ARB) and (ii) genotypic assessment (ARG) of resistant microorganisms, and (iii) wastewater treatment processes. Each article was read entirely to extract the year of publication, the geographical area of the UWWTP, the ARB and ARG found, and the type of disinfection treatment used. Among the ARB, we focused on the antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterococci in UWWTP. The results show that the information presented in the literature to date is not exhaustive; therefore, future scientific studies at the national level are needed to better understand the spread of ARB and ARG, and also to develop new treatment methods to reduce this spread.


Desalination ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 246 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 409-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idil Arslan-Alaton ◽  
Gulen Iskender ◽  
Aysegul Tanik ◽  
Melike Gurel ◽  
Suleyman Ovez ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6133
Author(s):  
Charikleia Prochaska ◽  
Anastasios Zouboulis

Although Greece has accomplished wastewater infrastructure construction to a large extent, as 91% of the country’s population is already connected to urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), many problems still need to be faced. These include the limited reuse of treated wastewater and of the surplus sludge (biosolids) produced, the relative higher energy consumption in the existing rather aged WWTPs infrastructure, and the proper management of failing or inadequately designed septic tank/soil absorption systems, still in use in several (mostly rural) areas, lacking sewerage systems. Moreover, the wastewater treatment sector should be examined in the general framework of sustainable environmental development; therefore, Greece’s future challenges in this sector ought to be reconsidered. Thus, the review of Greece’s urban wastewater history, even from the ancient times, up to current developments and trends, will be shortly addressed. This study also notes that the remaining challenges should be analyzed in respect to the country’s specific needs (e.g., interaction with the extensive tourism sector), as well as to the European Union’s relevant framework policies and to the respective international technological trends, aiming to consider the WWTPs not only as sites for the treatment/removal of pollutants to prevent environmental pollution, but also as industrial places where energy is efficiently used (or even produced), resources’ content can be potentially recovered and reused (e.g., nutrients, treated water, biosolids), and environmental sustainability is being practiced overall.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Encarnación Moral Pajares ◽  
Leticia Gallego Valero ◽  
Isabel Román Sánchez

The principle of cost recovery established by the Water Framework Directive underlines the need for tax rates, which can raise enough revenue to finance the cost of treatments applied to wastewater. The objective of this research is to gain an understanding the different types of charges related to urban wastewater treatment that can be levied by the authorities responsible for this service. This paper also aims to determine whether these taxes contribute to guaranteeing the economic feasibility of the wastewater treatment plants. The proposed methodological approach is applied to 18 municipalities of a province in southern Europe in 2017. The results confirm that in most of these cases, the taxes levied do not guarantee adequate tax revenues to cover the running, maintenance and investment costs of municipal wastewater treatment plants. This situation leads to a lack of financial self-sufficiency in the wastewater management service, meaning that the imbalance between income and expenditure has to be covered by government subsidies. The results of this study will help guide authorities around the world that are in charge of managing urban wastewater treatment services.


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