Sustainable Wastewater Treatment Systems (2018–2019)

José Alberto Herrera Melián

doi:10.3390/su12051940

Abstract

An important part of the environmental degradation suffered by the planet is caused by the discharge of untreated or poorly treated wastewater. Industrial, urban, and agricultural wastewater contain many different types of pollutants such as biodegradable and nonbiodegradable organic matter, suspended solids, turbidity, nutrients, heavy metals, pesticides, pathogens, etc. All of these pose a threat to the environment and human health, so the selected treatment techniques must be adapted to their nature in order to optimize their removal. In addition to efficiency, wastewater treatment methods must be sustainable, not only from an environmental point of view, but also economically and ethically. As a result, no technological dependence should be generated in less developed countries or communities. Therefore, this Special Issue deals with improvements in various aspects of wastewater treatment including different aspects of water treatment such as the development of mathematical models, the application of life cycle techniques, or the experimental optimization of wastewater treatment methods. Thirteen articles were accepted covering some of the most relevant fields of wastewater treatment: activated sludge, nanoparticle treatment, constructed wetlands, energy–water nexus, nutrient recovery, eco-friendly sorbents, and reverse osmosis.

Highlights

Water scarcity has been a major problem in many regions of the world
The current environmental situation of the planet requires that the methods of water treatment, like any other human activity, are sustainable, but what does sustainable mean? Many times, we think about environmental sustainability exclusively and forget that sustainability, as understood by the United Nations in its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, is much more than that, since it includes economics and ethical-social aspects such as gender equality or the eradication of poverty for all (United Nations [8])
Only 13 high-quality papers were accepted after strict and rigorous review. These accepted papers mainly focused on various perspectives such as innovative applications and research covering the removal of nanoparticles, constructed wetlands, microbial aspects of activated sludge, adaptation to climate change in water-energy coupling, nutrient recovery from wastewater, ecofriendly sorbents, advanced oxidation processes, membrane technology, and modeling in reverse osmosis optimization

Summary

Introduction

Water scarcity has been a major problem in many regions of the world. accessibility to water of sufficient quality is becoming an increasingly serious problem, mainly due to the pollution of aquifers and coastal areas, climate change, and overpopulation (Nguvava et al [1], Ziadi et al [2], Zhou et al [3]). These accepted papers mainly focused on various perspectives such as innovative applications and research covering the removal of nanoparticles, constructed wetlands, microbial aspects of activated sludge, adaptation to climate change in water-energy coupling, nutrient recovery from wastewater, ecofriendly sorbents, advanced oxidation processes, membrane technology, and modeling in reverse osmosis optimization.

Results

Conclusion