Improving the accuracy of greenhouse gas accounting for wastewater treatment plants: seasonal differences must not be overlooked.

Screening toxic transformation products of emerging pollutants in advanced oxidation processes with 3D deep learning and in vitro assays.

Conductive nanofiltration: From materials to applications.

Presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in the Nandu River Estuary, Hainan Island.

Wastewater treatment plants as sinks and sources of PFASs: A global comparative review of occurrence, removal, and risks.

Pyrite addition drives sulfur cycling for efficient sulfamethoxazole removal and detoxification in sulfur-based constructed wetlands.

Ozonation before and after nitrogen removal: Consequences for ozone demand in light of the new urban wastewater treatment directive.

Full-scale analysis of dissolved organic matter in multi-stage wetlands treating wastewater treatment plant effluent and optimization of treatment process.

Enhancing low-temperature isothermal convective drying of waste municipal sewage sludge with wood-derived biochar in sequential drying cycles.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) profile in sludge biosolid fertiliser intended for agricultural use in Japan.

Metagenomic insights into the dynamics and persistence of antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater treatment plants

Configuration-driven microplastic fate in full-scale sewage sludge treatment and opportunities for system-level mitigation.

Physics-informed neural networks in water and wastewater systems: a critical review.

Wastewater treatment plants are widely recognized as hotspots for antibiotic resistance. Although activated sludge processes are not designed to lower the abundance of pathogens or antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), their effects on the pathobiome and antibiotic resistome require in-depth investigation. To this end, we collected wastewater samples before and after activated sludge process from five municipal wastewater treatment plants, each characterized by different inlet composition and treatment capacity. We extracted both intracellular and extracellular DNA and performed shotgun sequencing to characterize the bacterial community, pathobiome, and antibiotic resistome. Our aim was to assess the effects of activated sludge processes on bacterial community composition, the abundance of potentially pathogenic bacteria and high-risk ARGs, and the potential horizontal mobility of detected ARGs. Our results showed that activated sludge processes significantly reduced the abundance of potentially pathogenic bacteria and several high-risk ARGs. Notably, while the prevalence of plasmid-associated ARGs decreased following treatment, ARG-carrying contigs assigned to bacteriophages increased, particularly in extracellular DNA samples. Overall, activated sludge processes demonstrated a beneficial microbiological effect by lowering potentially pathogenic bacteria. However, the enrichment of viral particles carrying ARGs highlights a potential risk for ARG spreading during the following processes. These findings underscore the importance of analyzing both intracellular and extracellular DNA to fully understand the role of activated sludge in mitigating antibiotic resistance and pathogens in wastewater.

Spatiotemporal patterns and drivers of carbon emissions from on-site wastewater treatment: Evidence from a city-wide long-term network.

Immobile iron-rich particles enhance simultaneous nitrogen removal and phosphorus retention in treatment wetlands.

Betaine-modified La-doped ferrihydrite for efficient phosphate removal to ultralow levels.

CFD-PBM-ASM2 integrated model reveals the influence mechanisms of bubble size distribution on oxygen mass transfer and pollutant removal in a full-scale A²O bioreactor.

Impacts of typical nitrogenous disinfection byproducts on advanced nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands: Insights from microbial activity and community response.

Effects of production wastewater reuse from drinking water treatment plants on organic matter changes and disinfection by-product formation.