Insights into current bio-processes and future perspectives of carbon-neutral treatment of industrial organic wastewater: A critical review.

With the rise of the concept of carbon neutrality, the current wastewater treatment process of industrial organic wastewater is moving towards the goal of energy conservation and carbon emission reduction. The advantages of anaerobic digestion (AD) processes in industrial organic wastewater treatment for bio-energy recovery, which is in line with the concept of carbon neutrality. This study summarized the significance and advantages of the state-of-the-art AD processes were reviewed in detail. The application of expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactors and anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) were particularly introduced for the effective treatment of industrial organic wastewater treatment due to its remarkable prospect of engineering application for the high-strength wastewater. This study also looks forward to the optimization of the AD processes through the enhancement strategies of micro-aeration pretreatment, acidic-alkaline pretreatment, co-digestion, and biochar addition to improve the stability of the AD system and energy recovery from of industrial organic wastewater. The integration of anaerobic ammonia oxidation (Anammox) with the AD processes for the post-treatment of nitrogenous pollutants for the industrial organic wastewater is also introduced as a feasible carbon-neutral process. The combination of AnMBR and Anammox is highly recommended as a promising carbon-neutral process for the removal of both organic and inorganic pollutants from the industrial organic wastewater for future perspective. It is also suggested that the AD processes combined with biological hydrogen production, microalgae culture, bioelectrochemical technology and other bio-processes are suitable for the low-carbon treatment of industrial organic wastewater with the concept of carbon neutrality in future.

Mechanisms of anaerobic treatment of sulfate-containing organic wastewater mediated by Fe0 under different initial pH values.

The anaerobic treatment of sulfide-containing organic wastewater (SCOW) is significantly affected by pH, causing dramatic decrease of treatment efficiency when pH deviates from its appropriate range. Fe0 has proved as an effective strategy on mitigating the impact of pH. However, systematic analysis of the influence mechanism is still lacking. To fill this gap, the impact of different initial pH values on anaerobic treatment efficiency of SCOW with Fe0 addition, the change of fermentation type and methanogens, and intra-extracellular electron transfer were explored in this study. The results showed that Fe0 addition enhanced the efficacy of anaerobic treatment of SCOW at adjusted initial pH values, especially at pH 6. Mechanism analysis showed that respiratory chain-related enzymes and electron shuttle secretion and resistance reduction were stimulated by soluble iron ions generated by Fe0 at pH 6, which accelerated intra-extracellular electron transfer of microorganisms, and ultimately alleviated the impact of acidic pH on the system. While at pH 8, Fe0 addition increased the acetogenic bacteria abundance, as well as optimized the fermentation type and improved the F420 coenzyme activity, resulting in the enhancement of treatment efficiency in the anaerobic system and remission of the effect of alkaline pH on the system. At the neutral pH, Fe0 addition had both advantages as stimulating the secretion of respiratory chain and electron transfer-related enzymes at pH 6 and optimizing the fermentation type pH 8, and thus enhanced the treatment efficacy. This study provides important insights and scientific basis for the application of new SCOW treatment technologies.

BSA-Cu3(PO4)2 hybrid nanoflower-an efficient and low-cost nanoenzyme for decolorization of organic pollutants.

The Fenton reaction is one of the most effective methods for treating organic wastewater, which is extremely harmful to humans but difficult to treat. However, finding simple, low-cost, and efficient catalysts for the Fenton reaction remains a challenge. In this study, a BSA-Cu3(PO4)2 hybrid nanoflower (NF) was synthesized to investigate its peroxidase-like activity for the treatment of organic wastewater. Its morphology, composition, and crystallization had been fully studied and the results confirmed that the NFs were successfully prepared. Subsequently, the origin of the peroxidase-like activity of the NFs was further analyzed, with the results suggesting two reasons: (i) the transformation between Cu(I) and Cu(II) and (ii) nano-effects. Additionally, Congo red was selected as the organic pollutant to simulate the decolorization of wastewater. After 3 h, the decolorization efficiency reached 96%. Furthermore, the NFs exhibited good storage performance, maintaining approximately 90% relative activity after storage for 30 days. In summary, the NFs have great application prospects in the treatment of organic wastewater.

Advanced treatment and Resource recovery of brewery wastewater by Co-cultivation of filamentous microalga Tribonema aequale and autochthonous Bacteria.

To use unicellular microalgae to remove waste nutrients from brewery wastewater while converting them into algal biomass has been explored but high-cost treatment and low-value biomass associated with current technologies have prevented this concept from further attempts. In this study, a filamentous microalga Tribonema aequale was introduced and the alga can grow vigorously in brewery wastewater and algal biomass concentration could be as high as 6.45 g L-1 which can be harvested by a cost-effective filtration method. The alga together with autochthonous bacteria removed majority of waste nutrients from brewery wastewater. Specifically, 85.39% total organic carbon (TOC), 79.53% total dissolved nitrogen (TN), 93.38% ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and 71.33% total dissolved phosphorus (TP) in brewery wastewater were rapidly removed by co-cultivation of T. aequale and autochthonous bacteria. Treated wastewater met the national wastewater discharge quality, and resulting algal biomass contained large amounts of high-value products chrysolaminarin, palmitoleic acid (PLA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). It is anticipated that reduced cost of algal harvesting coupled with value-added biomass could make T. aequale as a promising candidate for brewery wastewater treatment and resource utilization.

Aerobic granular sludge treating hypersaline wastewater: Impact of pH on granulation and long-term operation at different organic loading rates.

pH is one of the major parameters that influence the granulation and long-term operation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS). In hypersaline wastewater, the impact of pH on granulation and the extent of organic loading rate (OLR) that AGS can withstand under different pH are still not clear. In this study, AGS was cultivated at 3% salinity in three sequencing batch reactors with influent pH values of 5.0, 7.0, and 9.0, respectively, and the OLR was stepwise increased from 2.4 to 16.8 kg COD/m3·d after the granules maturation. The results showed the satisfactory granulation and organic removal under different influent pH conditions, in which the granulation was completed on day 43, 23, and 23, respectively. Neutral influent was the most appropriate for development of salt-tolerant aerobic granular sludge (SAGS), while acidic environment induced the formation of fluffy filamentous granules, and alkaline environment weakened the granule stability. Metagenomic analysis revealed the similar microbial community of neutral and alkaline conditions, with the predominance of genus Paracoccus_f__Rhodobacteraceae. While in acidic environment, fungus Fusarium formed the skeleton of filamentous granules and functioned as the carrier of bacteria including Azoarcus and Pararhodobacter. With the elevation of OLR, SAGSs were found to maintain the compact structure under OLRs of 2.4, 7.2, and 2.4 kg COD/m3·d, and obtain high TOC removal (>95.0%) under OLRs of 7.2, 14.4, and 14.4 kg COD/m3·d, respectively. For hypersaline high-strength organic wastewater, satisfactory TOC removal could also be obtained at broad pH ranges (5.0-9.0), in which neutral environment was the most suitable and acidic environment was the worst. This study contributed to a better understanding of SAGS granulation and treatment of hypersaline high-strength organic wastewater with different pH values.

Salt stress altered anaerobic microbial community and carbon metabolism characteristics: The trade-off between methanogenesis and chain elongation.

Discharge of saline organic wastewater is increasing worldwide, yet how salt stress disrupts the microbial community's structure and metabolism in bioreactors has not been systematically investigated. The non-adapted anaerobic granular sludge was inoculated into wastewater with varying salt concentration (ranging from 0% to 5%) to examine the effects of salt stress on the structure and function of the anaerobic microbial community. Result indicated that salt stress had a significant impact on the metabolic function and community structure of the anaerobic granular sludge. Specifically, we observed a notable reduction in methane production in response to all salt stress treatments (r = -0.97, p < 0.01), while an unexpected increase in butyrate production (r = 0.91, p < 0.01) under moderate salt stress (1-3%) with ethanol and acetate as carbon sources. In addition, analysis of microbiome structures and networks demonstrated that as the degree of salt stress increased, the networks exhibited lower connectance and increased compartmentalization. The abundance of interaction partners (methanogenic archaea and syntrophic bacteria) decreased under salt stress. In contrast, the abundance of chain elongation bacteria, specifically Clostridium kluyveri, increased under moderate salt stress (1-3%). As a consequence, the microbial carbon metabolism patterns shifted from cooperative mode (methanogenesis) to independent mode (carbon chain elongation) under moderate salt stress. This study provides evidence that salt stress altered the anaerobic microbial community and carbon metabolism characteristics, and suggests potential guidance for steering the microbiota to promote resource conversion in saline organic wastewater treatment.

Photocatalytic oxidation degradation of tetracycline over La/Co@TiO2 nanospheres under visible light.

The oxygen-vacancy-rich La/Co@TiO2 nanospheres for the photo catalytic degradation of tetracycline were prepared by a simple two-step method. 3 wt%La/Co@TiO2 nanospheres had better photocatalytic performance of the degradation of tetracycline than that of the other catalysts under visible light may be due to the synergistic effect between La/Co and TiO2 and nano-confined effect. The catalytic experimental results showed the degradation ratio of tetracycline (40 mg/L) were 100% for 90 min. XPS, Raman, and photoelectrochemical results showed appropriate number of oxygen vacancies existed on the surface of TiO2, which could improve the activation efficiency of dissolved oxygen in tetracycline solution because they accelerated the electron transfer rate in the system and inhibited the photoelectron-hole pair recombination under visible light. The EPR and radical scavenger tests showed h+, O2-, and ·OH were the main active species for the degradation of tetracycline. Also, the possible mechanism and intermediates of the tetracycline degradation process were speculated under the visible light. La/Co@TiO2 nanospheres would be a promising photocatalyst for wastewater treatment.

Enhanced refractory organics removal by sponge iron-coupled microbe technology: performance and underlying mechanism analysis.

Sponge iron (SFe) is a zero-valent iron (Fe0) composite with a high-purity and porous structure. In this study, SFe was coupled with microorganisms that were gradually domesticated to form a Fe0/iron-oxidizing bacteria system (Fe0-FeOB system). The enhancement effect of the Fe0-FeOB system on refractory organics was verified, the mechanism of its strengthening action was investigated, and the relationship and influencing factors between the Fe0 and microorganisms were revealed. The average removal rates of the Fe0-FeOB system were 8.98%, 5.69%, and 40.67% higher than those of the SBR system for AF, AN, and NB wastewater treatment, respectively. With the addition of SFe, the microbial community structure was gradually enhanced with a large number of FeOB were detected. Moreover, the bacteria with strong iron corrosion and Fe(II) oxidation abilities plays a critical role in improving the Fenton-like effect. Interestingly, the variation trend of ⋅OH was fairly consistent with that of Fe(II). Thus, the main drivers of the Fenton-like effect are biological corrosion and metabolism. Consequently, microbial degradation and Fenton-like effect contributed to the degradation performance of the Fe0-FeOB system. Among them, the microbial degradation accounted for 96.09%, of which the biogenic Fenton effect accounted for 8.9%, and the microbial metabolic activity accounted for 87.19%. However, the augmentation of the Fe0-FeOB system was strongly dependent on SFe for the strengthening effect of microorganisms disappeared after leaving the SFe 35 days.

Nitrification performance evaluation of activated sludge under high potassium ion stress during high-ammonia nitrogen organic wastewater treatment.

The recycling reverse osmosis (RO) membrane concentrate of some high-ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) organic wastewater to the biological unit could cause potassium ion (K+) accumulation, thereby affecting the removal of NH4+-N by activated sludge. Thus, the effects of high K+ stress on activated sludge nitrification performance was studied. The results showed that the high K+ stress promoted the floc sludge to produce more extracellular polymers (EPS), which accelerated the sludge sedimentation and enriched the biomass in sequential batch reactors (SBRs). The ammonia oxidation process and nitrite (NO2--N) oxidation process were further analyzed in the nitrification process. High K+ stress enriched ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), which ensured the efficient ammonia oxidation process in SBRs, and ensured the removal rate of NH4+-N was maintained above 93%. However, high K+ stress (15g/L KCl) inhibited the activity of NO2--N oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and reduced the abundance of NOB, thus leading to the accumulation of NO2--N, and finally worsened the nitrification performance of activated sludge. In short, the performance of activated sludge will not be inhibited when the K+ in the wastewater does not exceed 5.23 g/L. The results could provide a reference for the optimization of the biological performance in treating high-NH4+-N organic wastewater with activated sludge coupled RO membrane treatment process.

In Situ-Formed Phenoxyl Radical on the CuO Surface Triggers Efficient Persulfate Activation for Phenol Degradation.

Transition-metal oxide (MxOy)-based persulfate (PDS) activation processes have demonstrated enormous potential for pollutant degradation in water purification. However, the mechanistic insight of PDS activation by a MxOy catalyst concerning the mediate role of the organic substrate remains obscure. Here, we demonstrated that the in situ-formed phenoxyl radical on the CuO surface can trigger efficient persulfate activation for phenol degradation. The formation of the phenoxyl radical was an inner-sphere process, which involved the successive steps of chemisorption through surface hydroxyl group substitution and the subsequent spontaneous electron transfer reaction from adsorbed phenol to CuO. The organic substrate phenol can be oxidized by the PDS molecule and surface-bound SO4•- through the nonradical and free-radical pathways, respectively. Such a unique "half-radical" mechanism resulted in an extraordinarily high PDS utilization efficiency of 188.9%. More importantly, a general rule for phenoxyl radical formation was concluded; it can be formed in the cases of organic substrates with a Hammett constant σ+ lower than -0.02 and metal ion of a 3d subshell between half-filled and fully filled. This study clarifies the mediate role of the organic substrate for interfacial PDS activation on MxOy and also gives new insights into the rational design of a highly efficient MxOy catalyst for selective phenolic/aniline pollutant degradation in wastewater.

The Application of Carbon Nanotube/Graphene-Based Nanomaterials in Wastewater Treatment.

The treatment of organic wastewater is of great significance. Carbon nanotube (CNT)/graphene-based nanomaterials have great potential as absorbent materials for organic wastewater treatment owing to their high specific surface area, mesoporous structure, tunable surface properties, and high chemical stability; these attributes allow them to endure harsh wastewater conditions, such as acidic, basic, and salty conditions at high concentrations or at high temperatures. Although a substantial amount of work has been reported on the performance of CNT/graphene-based nanomaterials in organic wastewater systems, engineering challenges still exist for their practical application. Herein, the adsorption mechanism of CNT- and graphene-based nanomaterials is summarized, including the adsorption mechanism of CNTs and graphene at the atomic and molecular levels, their hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface properties, and the structure-property relationship required for adsorption to occur. Second, the structural modification and recombination methods of CNT- and graphene-based adsorbents for various organic wastewater systems are introduced. Third, the engineering challenges, including the molding of macroscopically stable adsorbents, adsorption isotherm models and adsorption kinetic behaviors, and reversible adsorption performance compared to that of activated carbon (AC) are discussed. Finally, cost issues are discussed in light of scalable and practical application of these materials.

Magnetite enhances anaerobic digestion of high salinity organic wastewater.

Biological treatment of high salinity organic wastewater is a significant challenge because many microorganisms involved in the anaerobic digestion process cannot survive high osmotic pressures. In order to alleviate some of the stresses associated with the treatment of high salinity wastewater, two lab-scale up-flow anaerobic sludge bed reactors with or without magnetite (100 g/L) were used to treat high salinity organic wastewater. This study showed that the bioreactor amended with magnetite had higher chemical oxygen demand removal efficiencies (90.2% ± 0.54% vs 73.1% ± 1.9%) and methane production rates (4082 ± 334 ml (standard temperature and atmospheric pressure, STP)/d vs 2640 ± 120 ml (STP)/d) than the non-amended control reactor. In addition, the consumption of volatile fatty acids (20.9 ± 3.4 mM vs 61.7 ± 2.0 mM) was accelerated. Microbial community analysis revealed that the addition of magnetite caused the enrichment of many bacterial genera known to form robust biofilms (i.e. Pseudomonas) that are also capable of extracellular electron transfer and methanogens from the genus Methanosarcina which have been shown to participate in direct interspecies electron transfer. These results show that magnetite addition could enhance the performance of anaerobic digesters treating high salinity wastewater.

Performance of real-scale anaerobic baffled reactor-swim bed tank system in treating fishmeal wastewater.

This study evaluates the process performance of a real-scale anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) coupled with swim bed tank (SBT) as an aerobic post-treatment process in treating fishmeal wastewater discharged from an actual fishmeal processing factory in Bali, Indonesia. The industrial wastewater released from the aforementioned factory contains high concentrations of organic COD (more than 10 g COD·L-1) and ammonia (100 to 200 mg-N·L-1). During the study period, ABR demonstrated a high organic removal of 95.7 ± 2.9%, with an organic loading rate of 2.1 ± 1.3 kg COD·m-3·day-1. Furthermore, the average total COD influent and effluent of the proposed system were 37,800 ± 15,000 mg COD·L-1 and 435 ± 113 mg COD·L-1, respectively, during the entire experimental period. Based on the determination of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and microbial community analysis of the ABR-retained sludge, the first and second columns of the ABR were utilized as hydrolysis zones and the third column functioned as an acidification zone. The remaining columns were used for methane production and as final removal zones. The results concluded that this system has the potential to treat fishmeal wastewater under onsite industrial conditions.

Degradation of kanamycin from production wastewater with high-concentration organic matrices by hydrothermal treatment.

It is known that many kinds of fermentative antibiotics can be removed by temperature-enhanced hydrolysis from production wastewater based on their easy-to-hydrolyze characteristics. However, a few aminoglycosides are hard to hydrolyze below 100°C because of their stability expressed by high molecular energy gap (ΔE). Herein, removal of hard-to-hydrolyze kanamycin residue from production wastewater by hydrothermal treatment at subcritical temperatures was investigated. The results showed the reaction temperature had a significant impact on kanamycin degradation. The degradation half-life (t1/2) was shortened by 87.17-fold when the hydrothermal treatment temperature was increased from 100°C to 180°C. The t1/2 of kanamycin in the N2 process was extended by 1.08-1.34-fold compared to that of the corresponding air process at reaction temperatures of 140-180°C, indicating that the reactions during hydrothermal treatment process mainly include oxidation and hydrolysis. However, the contribution of hydrolysis was calculated as 75%-98%, which showed hydrolysis played a major role during the process, providing possibilities for the removal of kanamycin from production wastewaters with high-concentration organic matrices. Five transformation products with lower antibacterial activity than kanamycin were identified using UPLC-QTOF-MS analysis. More importantly, hydrothermal treatment could remove 97.9% of antibacterial activity (kanamycin EQ, 1,109 mg/L) from actual production wastewater with CODCr around 100,000 mg/L. Furthermore, the methane production yield in anaerobic inhibition tests could be increased about 2.3 times by adopting the hydrothermal pretreatment. Therefore, it is concluded that hydrothermal treatment as a pretreatment technology is an efficient method for removing high-concentration hard-to-hydrolyze antibiotic residues from wastewater with high-concentration organic matrices.

Enhancing effects of activated carbon supported nano zero-valent iron on anaerobic digestion of phenol-containing organic wastewater.

Activated carbon supported nano zero-valent iron material (NZVI/AC) was prepared and added to an anaerobic digestion tank to reduce the toxicity inhibition of phenols and increase the methane yield of phenol-containing organic wastewater (POW). The anaerobic digestion (AD) characteristics, including conversion rate of organic substances, removal rate of phenol, and methane yield of POW with different concentrations of phenol were studied, and moreover, the enhancing effects of NZVI/AC on the AD of POW were focused. When the concentration of phenol was below 500 mg/L, the methane yield from AD of POW was 387.5 mL, which was 10.71% higher than that from control organic water without phenol, however, phenol concentrations greater than 1000 mg/L severely inhibited AD, and methane yield was only 50% of the control sample. Indicating that anaerobic microorganisms had a certain degree of tolerance to phenol, and low concentration of phenol could promote AD of organic water although the phenol with high concentration showed severe inhibition. The methane yield increased due to the probable conversion of phenol to methane by microbial actions. In the AD of POW with 500 mg/L phenol, the conversion rate of organic substances increased from 37.49% (control group without any accelerant) to 66.56% after adding NZVI/AC. The removal rate of phenol also increased from 39.03% to 81.32%. Cumulative methane yield increased by 145.5%-810 mL compared with the control group. The AC carrier in NZVI/AC exerted a good adsorption effect on phenols, reducing the concentration of phenols in the solution and thus minimizing their toxic effects on microbial activity. The NZVI loaded on AC particles strengthened the electron transfer between methanogens by its good electrical conductivity, and then promoted the AD performance of organic matter. Furthermore, NZVI exerted a micro-electrolytic effect on phenolic substances, which could increase the removal rate of phenol. Therefore, NZVI/AC could be used as an efficient accelerant for the AD of POW to enhance the AD process.

Recovering organic matters and ions from wastewater by genetically engineered Bacillus subtilis biomass.

Water pollution causes substantial damage to the environment and to human health, and the current methods to treat pollution suffer from high cost and low efficiency, resulting in increased environmental damages. Using genetic modification and functional selection, we developed a novel biosorbent from Genetically Engineered Bacillus subtilis (GEBS) cells. At a ratio of biosorbent to direct blue dye of about 1:1.25 in a water solution, the dye pigments can be completely adsorbed in 40 s, decreasing COD to zero. Contrary to other biosorbents, ions such as Fe(2+) and Cu(2+) have significant advantages in terms of the adsorbing efficiency. The GEBS biomass can therefore capture both organics and ions from wastewater simultaneously and achieve co-precipitation in 2-10 min, which are features critical for practical applications of wastewater treatment. In addition, we used six different eluting solutions to regenerate used biomass, all resulting in renewed, highly efficient color and COD elimination capacities, with the best elution solution being NaHCO3 and Na2CO3. For practical applications, we showed a high COD elimination rate when using the GEBS biomass to treat raw water from textile enterprises, paper mill, and petrochemical industries. Compared with currently available adsorbing agents, the GEBS cells can adsorb organic and ion waste much faster and with much higher efficiency, can be regenerated and recycled efficiently, and may have broad applications in treating organic water pollution.

Volatile fatty acids production from kitchen waste slurry using anaerobic membrane bioreactor via alkaline fermentation with high salinity: Evaluation on process performance and microbial succession.

In this study, a pilot-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) was developed to continuously produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from kitchen waste slurry under an alkaline condition. The alkaline fermentation effectively suppressed methanogenesis, thus achieving high VFAs production of 60.3 g/L. Acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid accounted for over 95.0 % of the total VFAs. The VFAs yield, productivity, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) recovery efficiency reached 0.5 g/g-CODinfluent, 6.0 kg/m3/d, and 62.8 %, respectively. Moreover, the CODVFAs/CODeffluent ratio exceeded 96.0 %, and the CODVFAs/NH3-N ratio through ammonia distillation reached up to 192.5. The microbial community was reshaped during the alkaline fermentation with increasing salinity. The membrane fouling of the AnMBR was alleviated by chemical cleaning and sludge discharge, and membrane modules displayed a sustained filtration performance. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that high-quality VFAs could be efficiently produced from kitchen waste slurry using an AnMBR process via alkaline fermentation.

Novel process for organic wastewater treatment using aerobic composting technology: Shifting from pollutant removal towards resource recovery.

In this study, an organic wastewater treatment process based on aerobic composting technology was developed in order to explore the transition of wastewater treatment from pollutants removal to resource recovery. The novelty of the process focuses towards the microbial metabolic heat that is often ignored during the composting, and taking advantage of this heat for wastewater evaporation to achieve zero-discharge treatment. Meanwhile, this process can retain the wastewater's nutrients in the composting substrate to realize the recovery of resources. This study determined the optimum condition for the process (initial water content of 50 %, C/N ratio of 25:1, ventilation rate of 3 m3/h), and 69.9 % of the total heat generated by composting was used for wastewater treatment under the condition. The HA/FA ratio of composting substrate increased from 0.07 to 0.53 after wastewater treatment, and the retention ratio of TOC and TN was 52.3 % and 61.7 %, respectively, which proved the high recycling value of the composting products. Thermoduric and thermophilic bacteria accounted for 44.3 % of the community structure at the maturation stage, which played a pivotal role in both pollutant removal and resource recovery.

Flow cytometric assessments of metabolic activity in bacterial assemblages provide insight into ecosystem condition along the Buffalo National River, Arkansas.

The Buffalo National River (BNR), on karst terrain in Arkansas, is considered an extraordinary water resource. Water collected in Spring 2017 along BNR was metagenomically analyzed using 16S rDNA, and for 17 months (5/2017-11/2018), bacterial responses were measured in relation to nutrients sampled along a stretch of BNR near a concentrated animal feed operation (CAFO) on Big Creek. Because cell count and esterase activity can increase proportionally with organic enrichment, they were hypothesized to be elevated near the CAFO. Counts (colony forming units; CFUs) were different among sites for 73 % of the months; Big Creek generated highest CFUs 27 % of the time, with the closest downstream site at 13.3 %. Esterase activity was different among sites 94 % of the time, with Big Creek exhibiting lowest activity 71 % of the time. Over the months, activity was similar across sites at ~70 % active, except at Big Creek (56 %). The α-diversity of BNR microbial consortia near a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and the CAFO was related to distance from the WWTP and CAFO. The inverse relationship between high CFUs and low esterase activity at Big Creek (r = -0.71) actuated in vitro exposures of bacteria to organic wastewater contaminants (OWC) previously identified in the watershed. Exponential-phase Escherichia coli (stock strain), Streptococcus suis (avirulent, from swine), and S. dysgalactiae (virulent, from silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) were incubated with atrazine, pharmaceuticals (17 α-ethynylestradiol and trenbolone), and antimicrobials (tylosin and butylparaben). Bacteria were differentially responsive. Activity varied with exposure time and OWC type, but not concentration; atrazine decreased it most. Taken together - the metagenomic taxonomic similarities along BNR, slightly higher bacterial growth and lower bacterial esterase at the CAFO, and the lab exposures of bacterial strains showing that OWC altered metabolism - the results indicated that bioactive OWC entering the watershed can strongly influence microbial processes in the aquatic ecosystem.

Feasibility of replacing proton exchange membranes with pressure-driven membranes in membrane electrochemical reactors for high salinity organic wastewater treatment.

Membrane electrochemical reactor (MER) shows superiority to electrochemical oxidation (EO) in high salinity organic wastewater (HSOW) treatment, but requirement of proton exchange membranes (PEM) increases investment and maintenance cost. In this work, the feasibility of using low-cost pressure-driven membranes as the separation membrane in MER system was systematically investigated. Commonly used pressure-driven membranes, including loose membranes such as microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF), as well as dense membranes like nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), were employed in the study. When tested in a contamination-free solution, MF and UF exhibited superior electrochemical performance compared to PEM, with comparable pH regulation capabilities in the short term. When foulant (humic acid, Ca2+ and Mg2+) presented in the feed, UF saved the most energy (43 %) compared to PEM with similar removal rate of UV254 (∼85 %). In practical applications of MER for treating nanofiltration concentrate (NC) of landfill leachate, UF saved 27 % energy compared to PEM per cycle with the least Ca2+ and Mg2+ retention in membrane and none obvious organics permeation. For fouled RO and PEM with ion transport impediment, water splitting was exacerbated, which decreased the percentage of oxidation for organics. Overall, replacing of PEM with UF significantly reduce the costs associated with both the investment and operation of MER, which is expected to broaden the practical application for treating HSOW.