PHOSPHORUS REMOVAL FROM IRAQI TREATED WASTEWATER USING ALUM SLUDGE

Phosphorus is one of the most important nutrients affecting the eutrophication, so its treatment is the most important thing that must be taken before wastewater is dumped into water bodies. This paper presents a study on phosphorous removal by adsorption with oven-dried-alum-sludge (ODAS) that was collected from Baqubah treatment plant (Iraq) and preheat at 105 ° C, cool down at room temperature, and crushed into small particles of (0.8-5) mm. The effect of ODAS studied with doses of 1.25-20 g/l and found that the higher the dose of adsorbent, the higher the percentage of phosphorous removal. Contact time also studied its effect on phosphorous removal and found that it has a clear effect on the adsorption process, as the percentage of phosphorous removal efficiency increased with increasing contact time. The optimum dosage of ODAS was 10 g/l and contact time 180 min with phosphorous removal efficiency (98%, 99%, 97%, and 97%) for initial concentration of (5, 10, 15, and 20) mg/l of phosphorus.

Prokaryotic viruses impact functional microorganisms in nutrient removal and carbon cycle in wastewater treatment plants

As one of the largest biotechnological applications, activated sludge (AS) systems in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) harbor enormous viruses, with 10-1,000-fold higher concentrations than in natural environments. However, the compositional variation and host-connections of AS viruses remain poorly explored. Here, we report a catalogue of ~50,000 prokaryotic viruses from six WWTPs, increasing the number of described viral species of AS by 23-fold, and showing the very high viral diversity which is largely unknown (98.4-99.6% of total viral contigs). Most viral genera are represented in more than one AS system with 53 identified across all. Viral infection widely spans 8 archaeal and 58 bacterial phyla, linking viruses with aerobic/anaerobic heterotrophs, and other functional microorganisms controlling nitrogen/phosphorous removal. Notably, Mycobacterium, notorious for causing AS foaming, is associated with 402 viral genera. Our findings expand the current AS virus catalogue and provide reference for the phage treatment to control undesired microorganisms in WWTPs.

Analysis of the Status and Improvement of Microalgal Phosphorus Removal from Municipal Wastewater

Phosphorus, as one of the main pollutants in municipal sewage, has received increasing attention recently. Phosphorus recovery also increases the sustainable development of municipal wastewater. Since algae have the ability to effectively redirect nutrients, including phosphorus, from municipal sewage to algae biomass, municipal sewage treatments involving microalgae have piqued the interest of many researchers. The phosphorus removal depends on the potential of the microalgae to absorb, preserve, or degrade phosphorus in municipal wastewater. It is, therefore, of great interest to study the mechanisms underlying the absorption, storage, and degradation of phosphorus by microalgae to ensure the viability of this phosphorus removal process in wastewater. The objectives of this review were to summarize phosphorus metabolism in microalgae, examine key external and internal factors impacting phosphorous removal by microalgae from wastewater, and examine the status of phosphorous-metabolism-related research to improve our understanding of microalgae-based municipal wastewater treatments. In addition, the methods of recovery of microalgae after phosphorous removal were summarized to ensure the sustainability of municipal wastewater treatment. Finally, a potential approach using nanomaterials was proposed to enhance the overall phosphorous removal performance in municipal wastewater through the addition of nanoparticles such as magnesium and iron.