9 - Nanotechnological interventions for sustainable effluent management solutions: A strategic approach

Abstract

Unprecedented anthropogenic activities have led to a generation of enormous volumes of waste, which we denote as solid and liquid waste. By and large, these wastes tend to bioaccumulate in different reservoirs and pose a significant threat as reflected by eco-toxicity. Industrial effluents undergo a conventional three-tier treatment strategy before their release in adjoining surface waters. Certainly, the current strategies fail to converge into sustainable solutions. That being said, insights related to the bioremediation of industrial effluents and sewage per se have held a promise by exploring bioprospective routes to scavenge xenobiotic contaminants from wastewaters. This had been made possible by virtue of natural attenuated microbes to biomineralize recalcitrant compounds by in situ bioremediation. This technological advancement had voids like strategic planning to scale up in the field had been a challenge attributed to higher concentrations of toxicants. This necessitated the advent of nanobioremediation, exploring the potential of nanomaterials. This technological upgradation perhaps addresses environmental challenges as it paves a way to attainment of Circular Economy models: spanning across nanoscale devices to filters, membranes, detectors, and sensors among others. This chapter discusses eco-toxicological manifestations resultant of diffused effluent treatment and management systems. To follow is a lucid account of bioremediation and a comprehensive review of nanobioremediation, its mechanism, and devices used to combat challenges associated with industrial water pollution and recalcitrant compounds posing health adversities.