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Zhang Z, Liu B, Chen W, Liu D, Li L, Ren Y, Wang W, Yuan H, Pang H, Zhang Z, Liao B, Lu J. Enhancing sewer low-loss transportation by food waste microencapsulation treatment: Dual suppression of organic leaching and biofilm architecture-function for mitigating hazardous gases and blockage risks. WATER RESEARCH 2025; 282:123749. [PMID: 40318280 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2025.123749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2025] [Revised: 04/26/2025] [Accepted: 04/29/2025] [Indexed: 05/07/2025]
Abstract
Food waste management posed a critical global sustainability challenge, with significant environmental, economic, and social impacts. The installation of food waste disposers emerged as a primary strategy for source-separated food waste transfer to wastewater treatment systems through municipal pipelines. However, this approach accelerated the transformation of sewer systems into bioreactors and induced sewer pipe deterioration. Therefore, a novel microencapsulation method was developed and optimized to rapidly immobilize comminuted food waste particles. The stability of FW-encapsulated microcapsules was evaluated for their capacity to suppress organic leaching, destabilize functional biofilm architectures, and mitigate hazardous gas emissions and pipeline blockages in sewer systems during sewage conveyance. Results showed that FW-loaded microcapsules exhibited physicochemical stability against hydrodynamic shear and microbial degradation during sewer transport. It suppressed 33.62 mg/L organic matter release based on COD, reduced fluorescent substance accumulation/degradation, and limited macromolecular organics leakage. Microencapsulation destabilized sewer biofilm integrity via EPS reduction, disrupted humic acid stabilization, altered microbial dominance, and induced protein conformational loosening, impairing biofilm resilience. The technology mitigated sewer risks by curbing 3078.3 ppm VOC. It eliminating 100 % and 98.80 % increments of CH4 and CO compared to crushed FW discharge increments(2.55 mg/L and 0.09 mg/L), suppressing 0.80 mg/L sulfide conversion increments, and minimizing sedimentation through particle size and suspended solids control. Integration with food waste disposers enhanced source-segregated organic collection, optimized hydro-transport to alleviate pipe deterioration, reduced 0.915 MtCO2-eq transport-related carbon emissions, and improved treatment efficiency of wastewater treatment plants. This microencapsulation strategy provided a sustainable solution for FW management, combining infrastructure preservation, emission control, and resource recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zigeng Zhang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China
| | - Bo Liu
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China
| | - Wentao Chen
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China
| | - Duoduo Liu
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China
| | - Linjun Li
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China
| | - Yujie Ren
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China
| | - Wenjie Wang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China
| | - Honglin Yuan
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China
| | - Heliang Pang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China
| | - Zhiqiang Zhang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China.
| | - Bangyou Liao
- Municipal Facilities Management, House and Urban Rural Development Department of Ankang, Ankang 725000, China
| | - Jinsuo Lu
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi' an 710055, China; State Key Laboratory of Green Building in West China, Xian University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resources, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an 710055, China.
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Zhang Z, Ren X, Liu Y, Song S, Ren Y, Li L, Pang H, Yang J, Lu J. Enhancing sulfide mitigation via the synergistic dosing of calcium peroxide and ferrous ions in gravity sewers: Efficiency and mechanism. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2025; 487:137285. [PMID: 39847929 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.137285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2024] [Revised: 01/15/2025] [Accepted: 01/17/2025] [Indexed: 01/25/2025]
Abstract
Chemical dosing constitutes an effective strategy for sulfide control in sewers; however, its efficacy requires further optimization and enhancement. In this study, a novel dosing strategy using the synergistic dosing of calcium peroxide (CaO2) and ferrous ions (Fe2+) for sulfide control was proposed, and its efficacy in controlling sulfides was evaluated using a long-term laboratory-scale reactor. The results showed that adding CaO2-Fe2+ improves the effect of sulfide control. When the ratio of the agent to the sewage (w/v) was 0.30 %, the RT50 of sulfide production rate was 8.34 days. The analysis of microbial communities in sewage biofilm revealed that the relative abundances of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and sulfide-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) demonstrated an overall downward tendency, suggesting that the potent oxidizing •OH generated by the synergism of CaO2 and Fe2+ could indiscriminately restrain the growth of microorganisms. Additionally, intracellular metabolic pathways, along with enzyme activities and the relative abundances of genes associated with sulfide metabolism, were significantly impaired. The cost of CaO2-Fe2+ synergistic dosing is 31.3 % of CaO2 and 63.4 % of Fe2+ alone addition. It can be reasonably proposed that the addition of CaO2-Fe2+ may provide an efficacious and cost-effective method for the mitigation of sulfide in sewer systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiqiang Zhang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resources, Environment, and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an 710055, China; State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Xiaowei Ren
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Yuxin Liu
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Shanshan Song
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Yating Ren
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Linjun Li
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Heliang Pang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Jing Yang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Jinsuo Lu
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resources, Environment, and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an 710055, China.
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Yan Y, Zhu JJ, May HD, Song C, Jiang J, Du L, Ren ZJ. Methanogenic Potential of Sewer Microbiomes and Its Implications for Methane Emission. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:19990-19998. [PMID: 39283956 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c04005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2024]
Abstract
The sewer system, despite being a significant source of methane emissions, has often been overlooked in current greenhouse gas inventories due to the limited availability of quantitative data. Direct monitoring in sewers can be expensive or biased due to access limitations and internal heterogeneity of sewer networks. Fortunately, since methane is almost exclusively biogenic in sewers, we demonstrate in this study that the methanogenic potential can be estimated using known sewer microbiome data. By combining data mining techniques and bioinformatics databases, we developed the first data-driven method to analyze methanogenic potentials using a data set containing 633 observations of 53 variables obtained from literature mining. The methanogenic potential in the sewer sediment was around 250-870% higher than that in the wet biofilm on the pipe and sewage water. Additionally, k-means clustering and principal component analysis linked higher methane emission rates (9.72 ± 51.3 kgCO2 eq m-3 d-1) with smaller pipe size, higher water level, and higher potentials of sulfate reduction in the wetted pipe biofilm. These findings exhibit the possibility of connecting microbiome data with biogenic greenhouse gases, further offering insights into new approaches for understanding greenhouse gas emissions from understudied sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuqing Yan
- Dept. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
- Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
| | - Jun-Jie Zhu
- Dept. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
- Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
| | - Harold D May
- Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
| | - Cuihong Song
- Dept. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
- Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
| | - Jinyue Jiang
- Dept. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
- Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
| | - Lin Du
- Dept. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
- Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
| | - Zhiyong Jason Ren
- Dept. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
- Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, 41 Olden St., Princeton 08540, New Jersey, United States
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Liu Y, Zuo Z, Li H, Xing Y, Cheng D, Guo M, Liu T, Zheng M, Yuan Z, Huang X. In-situ advanced oxidation of sediment iron for sulfide control in sewers. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 240:120077. [PMID: 37247440 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Sulfide control is a significant problem in urban sewer management. Although in-sewer dosing of chemicals has been widely applied, it is prone to high chemical consumption and cost. A new approach is proposed in this study for effective sulfide control in sewers. It involves advanced oxidation of ferrous sulfide (FeS) in sewer sediment, to produce hydroxyl radical (·OH) in-situ, leading to simultaneous sulfide oxidation and reduction of microbial sulfate-reducing activity. Long-term operation of three laboratory sewer sediment reactors was used to test the effectiveness of sulfide control. The experimental reactor with the proposed in-situ advanced FeS oxidation substantially reduced sulfide concentration to 3.1 ± 1.8 mg S/L. This compares to 9.2 ± 2.7 mg S/L in a control reactor with sole oxygen supply, and 14.1 ± 4.2 mg S/L in the other control reactor without either iron or oxygen. Mechanistic investigations illustrated the critical role of ·OH, produced from the oxidation of sediment iron, in regulating microbial communities and the chemical sulfide oxidation reaction. Together these results demonstrate that incorporating the advanced FeS oxidation process in sewer sediment enable superior performance of sulfide control at a much lower iron dosage, thereby largely saving chemical use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanchen Liu
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Zhiqiang Zuo
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
| | - He Li
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Yaxin Xing
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Dong Cheng
- College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Miao Guo
- Department of Engineering, King's College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Min Zheng
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xia Huang
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Xin K, Chen X, Zhang Z, Zhang Z, Pang H, Yang J, Jiang H, Lu J. Trace antibiotics increase the risk of antibiotic resistance genes transmission by regulating the biofilm extracellular polymeric substances and microbial community in the sewer. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2022; 432:128634. [PMID: 35306411 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2021] [Revised: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Sewer is considered a potential hotspot for antibiotic resistance, but the occurrence and proliferation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) under trace antibiotics exposure have received little attention. This work evaluated the effects of tetracycline (TC) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) individually and in combination in the sewer system and revealed the related mechanisms of ARG proliferation. The relative abundance of tetA and sul1 increased the most under TC and SMX stress, respectively, whereas sul1 increased the most under combined stress. Intl1 was abundant in both the liquid phase and the biofilm, and redundancy analysis confirmed that horizontal gene transfer was the main reason for the proliferation of ARGs. The increase in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) secretion and the enhancement of the main hydrophobic functional groups facilitated the accumulation of biofilms, which promoted the proliferation of ARGs in biofilms. The relative abundance of most ARGs in the liquid phase was significantly correlated with EPS, protein and tryptophan-like substances. Furthermore, the microbial community structure and diversity affected the proliferation and spread of ARGs in the sewer. These findings contribute to our further understanding of the proliferation and development of ARGs in the sewer and lay the foundation for the front-end control of ARGs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuan Xin
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Xingdu Chen
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; State Key Laboratory of Green Building in West China, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Zigeng Zhang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Zhiqiang Zhang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; State Key Laboratory of Green Building in West China, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Heliang Pang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; State Key Laboratory of Green Building in West China, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Jing Yang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; State Key Laboratory of Green Building in West China, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Hui Jiang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Jinsuo Lu
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; State Key Laboratory of Green Building in West China, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China.
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Zhang Z, Chang N, Wang S, Lu J, Li K, Zheng C. Enhancing sulfide mitigation via the sustainable supply of oxygen from air-nanobubbles in gravity sewers. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 808:152203. [PMID: 34890666 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Traditional air or oxygen injection is an effective and economical mitigation strategy for sulfide control in pressure sewers, but it is not suitable for gravity sewers due to the low solubility of oxygen in water under normal atmospheric conditions. Herein, an air-nanobubble (ANB) injection method was proposed for sulfide mitigation in gravity sewers, and its sulfide control efficiency was evaluated by long-term laboratory gravity sewer reactors. The results showed that an average inhibition rate of 45.36% for sulfide was obtained when ANBs were implemented, which was 3.75 times higher than that of the traditional air injection method, revealing the effectiveness and feasibility of the ANB injection method. As suggested by microbial community analysis of sewer biofilms, the relative abundance of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) decreased 40.57% while that of sulfur oxidizing bacteria (SOB) increased 215.27% in the presence of ANBs, indicating that sulfide mitigation by ANB injection included both the inhibition of sulfide production and the oxidation of dissolved sulfide. The specific cost consumption of ANB injection was 1.7 $/kg-S, which was only 6.85% of that of traditional air injection (24.8 $/kg-S), suggesting that the sustainable supply of oxygen based on ANB injection is not only environmentally but also economically beneficial for sulfide mitigation. The findings of this study may provide an efficient sulfide mitigation strategy for the management of corrosion and malodour issues in the poorly ventilated gravity sewers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiqiang Zhang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China
| | - Na Chang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China
| | - Sheping Wang
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China; Xi'an Municipal Design and Research Institute, No.100 Zhuque Road, Xi'an 710068, People's Republic of China
| | - Jinsuo Lu
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resources, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China.
| | - Kexin Li
- School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China
| | - Cailin Zheng
- Ankang Municipal Facilities Management, House and Urban Rural Development Department of Ankang, NO.1 Bingjiang Road, Ankang 725000, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China
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