Antimicrobial agents and microbial ecology

<abstract> <p>Antimicrobials are therapeutic substances used to prevent or treat infections. Disinfectants are antimicrobial agents applied to non-living surfaces. Every year, several thousand tonnes of antimicrobials and their by-products are released into the environment and in particular into the aquatic environment. This type of xenobiotic has ecological consequences in the natural environment but also in technological environments such as wastewater treatment plants and methane fermentation sewage sludge treatment plants. The constant exposure of microbial communities not only to high concentrations but also to sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics is a key element in the development of antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments and in soils. The future of antimicrobials lies in the development of biosourced or bioinspired molecules. The observation and deciphering of interactions between living organisms is the key to this development.</p> </abstract>

Operation and Performance of Austrian Wastewater and Sewage Sludge Treatment as a Basis for Resource Optimization

Recent years came with a paradigm shift for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to extend the sole purpose of contaminant removal to an additional function as resource recovery facilities. This shift is accompanied by the development of new European legislation towards better inclusion of resource recovery from wastewater. However, long operational lifespans and a multitude of treatment requirements demand thorough investigations into how resource recovery can be implemented sustainably. To aid the formulation of new legislation for phosphorus (P) recovery specifically, in 2017 we conducted a survey on Austrian WWTP-infrastructure, with a focus on P removal and sludge treatment, as well as disposal and sludge quality of all WWTPs above 2000 population equivalents (PE). Data were prepared for analysis, checked for completeness and cross-checked for plausibility. This study presents the major findings from this database and draws essential conclusions for the future recovery of P from wastewater. We see results from this study as useful to other countries, describing the current state of the art in Austria and potentially aiding in developing wastewater treatment and P recovery strategies.

Comparative environmental sustainability study of an improved sewage sludge treatment and sludge reuse system based on emergy analysis in China

As the significant residuals in the sewage treatment system, sludge treatment and reuse play a pivotal impact on the environmental sustainability study in China. In this paper, two sewage sludge treatment systems have been investigated, calculated, and analyzed, including the conventional treatment system (Scenario A) and improved reuse system (Scenario B), respectively. The results demonstrate that (1) Compared to Scenario A, Scenario B is a comprehensive system, which integrates a sewage sludge treatment system and a brick production system for sludge recycling. (2) After considering the brick system (scenario B), on the one hand, the sludge treatment capacity has been enhanced and raised sludge utilization; on the other hand, negative influences have also generated due to the non-renewable resources input and several outputs. (3) In Scenario A and Scenario B, the input resources part reflects the main impact (about 59.6% in the entire emergy value). (4) In this new paper, the UEVs are 2.73E + 11sej/kg and 6.29E + 11sej/kg in Scenario A and Scenario B, respectively. (5) The emergy sustainability indexes (ESI) are 0.012292 and 0.00848, which express the weak comprehensive effects in Scenario A and Scenario B. (6) Scenario B has a more extensive range of change than Scenario A because of the more resource input for the sensitivity analysis. Given the all discussions, there are two effective approaches to be used for perfecting environmental sustainability in the Scenario A system and Scenario B system.