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Lloyd SD, Carvajal G, Campey M, Taylor N, Osmond P, Roser DJ, Khan SJ. Predicting recreational water quality and public health safety in urban estuaries using Bayesian Networks. Water Res 2024; 254:121319. [PMID: 38422692 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
To support the reactivation of urban rivers and estuaries for bathing while ensuring public safety, it is critical to have access to real-time information on microbial water quality and associated health risks. Predictive modelling can provide this information, though challenges concerning the optimal size of training data, model transferability, and communication of uncertainty still need attention. Further, urban estuaries undergo distinctive hydrological variations requiring tailored modelling approaches. This study assessed the use of Bayesian Networks (BNs) for the prediction of enterococci exceedances and extrapolation of health risks at planned bathing sites in an urban estuary in Sydney, Australia. The transferability of network structures between sites was assessed. Models were validated using a novel application of the k-fold walk-forward validation procedure and further tested using independent compliance and event-based sampling datasets. Learning curves indicated the model's sensitivity reached a minimum performance threshold of 0.8 once training data included ≥ 400 observations. It was demonstrated that Semi-Naïve BN structures can be transferred while maintaining stable predictive performance. In all sites, salinity and solar exposure had the greatest influence on Posterior Probability Distributions (PPDs), when combined with antecedent rainfall. The BNs provided a novel and transparent framework to quantify and visualise enterococci, stormwater impact, health risks, and associated uncertainty under varying environmental conditions. This study has advanced the application of BNs in predicting recreational water quality and providing decision support in urban estuarine settings, proposed for bathing, where uncertainty is high.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon D Lloyd
- School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia.
| | - Guido Carvajal
- Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Andrés Bello, Antonio Varas 880, Providencia, Santiago, Chile
| | - Meredith Campey
- Beachwatch, NSW Department of Planning and Environment, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Paul Osmond
- School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia
| | - David J Roser
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
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2
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Zhou T, Li X, Liu H, Dong S, Zhang Z, Wang Z, Li J, Nghiem LD, Khan SJ, Wang Q. Occurrence, fate, and remediation for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in sewage sludge: A comprehensive review. J Hazard Mater 2024; 466:133637. [PMID: 38306831 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
Addressing per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination is an urgent environmental concern. While most research has focused on PFAS contamination in water matrices, comparatively little attention has been given to sludge, a significant by-product of wastewater treatment. This critical review presents the latest information on emission sources, global distribution, international regulations, analytical methods, and remediation technologies for PFAS in sludge and biosolids from wastewater treatment plants. PFAS concentrations in sludge matrices are typically in hundreds of ng/g dry weight (dw) in developed countries but are rarely reported in developing and least-developed countries due to the limited analytical capability. In comparison to water samples, efficient extraction and cleaning procedures are crucial for PFAS detection in sludge samples. While regulations on PFAS have mainly focused on soil due to biosolids reuse, only two countries have set limits on PFAS in sludge or biosolids with a maximum of 100 ng/g dw for major PFAS. Biological technologies using microbes and enzymes present in sludge are considered as having high potential for PFAS remediation, as they are eco-friendly, low-cost, and promising. By contrast, physical/chemical methods are either energy-intensive or linked to further challenges with PFAS contamination and disposal. The findings of this review deepen our comprehension of PFAS in sludge and have guided future research recommendations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting Zhou
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Xuan Li
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
| | - Huan Liu
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Shiman Dong
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin 10123, Italy
| | - Zehao Zhang
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Zhenyao Wang
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Jibin Li
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Qilin Wang
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
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3
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Braine MF, Kearnes M, Khan SJ. Quality and risk management frameworks for biosolids: An assessment of current international practice. Sci Total Environ 2024; 915:169953. [PMID: 38215849 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.169953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/14/2024]
Abstract
Biosolids, a product of wastewater treatment, provide a valuable resource, but to optimize the use of this resource it is necessary to manage risks posed to public health and the environment. Key requirements include identifying contaminant sources and providing barriers to ensure containment and treatment while maintaining the viability and value of biosolids products. Responsibility for managing biosolids is the remit of many stakeholders but primarily it rests with private and public wastewater facilities. The global variabilities in the way biosolids resources are acknowledged, applied, and managed are substantial. For example, some countries are increasing incineration because of their ability to remove contaminants while others have experienced a proportional decrease in incineration dependent on industrial resources or regarding resource recovery costs and needs. Some jurisdictions focus on energy recovery and others on land application. A risk management framework is a tool that may provide a suitable holistic approach to biosolids management. With this focus, current instruments in practice globally to manage biosolids were assessed for the degree to which they have adopted a risk management framework. To form a basis for this assessment a set of criteria was established by concept mapping several internationally recognized standards. Guidelines for a range of developed and developing countries were then assessed against these criteria. That process enabled the identification of which current practices were holistic in terms of applying biosolids risk management principles from production to end-use. Through this process, risk management gaps and vulnerabilities were identified. The results reveal that the incorporation of risk standards into risk management frameworks around the world is variable for the presence of risk criteria and the scale of detail provided. Contaminant concentrations need perspective within the changing risk landscape for stakeholders and the environment while jointly the opportunities and contaminant challenges require solutions that balance risks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marilyn F Braine
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Matthew Kearnes
- School of Humanities & Language, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia; School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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4
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Abd-Ur-Rehman HM, Prodanovic V, Deletic A, Khan SJ, McDonald JA, Zhang K. Removal of hydrophilic, hydrophobic, and charged xenobiotic organic compounds from greywater using green wall media. Water Res 2023; 242:120290. [PMID: 37429135 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
Green walls offer a novel on-site approach for greywater treatment and reuse in densely build urban environments. However, they need to be engineered for effective removal of a wide range of emerging contaminants such as xenobiotic organic compounds (XOCs), which may be present in greywater due to extensive use of personal care products and household chemicals. This study used laboratory column design and batch experiments to investigate the performance of three lightweight green wall media (coco coir, zeolite, and perlite) and their mixture in three different combinations for the removal of twelve XOCs, covering wide range of hydrophilic, hydrophobic, and charged pollutants in greywater. The experiments were designed to assess the removal of targeted XOCs under different operational condition (i.e., hydraulic loading, infiltration rate, drying) and uncover the dominant mechanisms of their removal. Results showed excellent removal (>90%) of all XOCs in coco coir and media mix columns at the start of the experiment (i.e., fresh media and initial 2 pore volume (PV) of greywater dosing). The removal of highly hydrophobic and positively charged XOCs remained high (>90%) under all operational conditions, while hydrophilic and negatively charged XOCs exhibited significant reduction in removal after 25 PV and 50 PV, possibly due to their low adsorption affinity and electrostatic repulsion from negatively charged media. The effect of infiltration rate on the removal of XOCs was not significant; however, higher removal was achieved after 2-weeks of drying in coco coir and media mix columns. The dominant removal mechanism for most XOCs was found to be adsorption, however, a few hydrophilic XOCs (i.e., acetaminophen and atrazine) exhibited both adsorption and biodegradation removal processes. While findings showed promising prospects of unvegetated media for removing XOCs from greywater, long term studies on vegetated green wall systems are needed to understand any synergetic contribution of plants and media in removing these XOCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- H M Abd-Ur-Rehman
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - V Prodanovic
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - A Deletic
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia
| | - S J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - J A McDonald
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - K Zhang
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
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5
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Li X, Liu H, Gao L, Sherchan SP, Zhou T, Khan SJ, van Loosdrecht MCM, Wang Q. Wastewater-based epidemiology predicts COVID-19-induced weekly new hospital admissions in over 150 USA counties. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4548. [PMID: 37507407 PMCID: PMC10382499 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40305-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Although the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emergency status is easing, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect healthcare systems globally. It is crucial to have a reliable and population-wide prediction tool for estimating COVID-19-induced hospital admissions. We evaluated the feasibility of using wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) to predict COVID-19-induced weekly new hospitalizations in 159 counties across 45 states in the United States of America (USA), covering a population of nearly 100 million. Using county-level weekly wastewater surveillance data (over 20 months), WBE-based models were established through the random forest algorithm. WBE-based models accurately predicted the county-level weekly new admissions, allowing a preparation window of 1-4 weeks. In real applications, periodically updated WBE-based models showed good accuracy and transferability, with mean absolute error within 4-6 patients/100k population for upcoming weekly new hospitalization numbers. Our study demonstrated the potential of using WBE as an effective method to provide early warnings for healthcare systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuan Li
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Huan Liu
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Li Gao
- South East Water, 101 Wells Street, Frankston, VIC, 3199, Australia
| | - Samendra P Sherchan
- Department of Biology, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Ting Zhou
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Mark C M van Loosdrecht
- Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 67, 2628 BC, Delft, the Netherlands
| | - Qilin Wang
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
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6
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Rahman Z, Liu W, Stapleton L, Kenters N, Rasmika Dewi DAP, Gudes O, Ziochos H, Khan SJ, Power K, McLaws ML, Thomas T. Wastewater-based monitoring reveals geospatial-temporal trends for antibiotic-resistant pathogens in a large urban community. Environ Pollut 2023; 325:121403. [PMID: 36914152 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Revised: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top ten global health threats, and current surveillance programs rarely monitor it outside healthcare settings. This limits our ability to understand and manage the spread of AMR. Wastewater testing has the potential to simply, reliably and continuously survey trends in AMR outside the healthcare settings, as it captures biological material from the entire community. To establish and evaluate such a surveillance, we monitored wastewater for four clinically significant pathogens across the urban area of Greater Sydney, Australia. Untreated wastewater from 25 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) covering distinct catchment regions of 5.2 million residents was sampled between 2017 and 2019. Isolates for extended-spectrum β-lactamases-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) were consistently detected, suggesting its endemicity in the community. Isolates for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were only occasionally detected. The flow normalized relative (FNR) ESBL-E load was positively correlated with the proportion of the population between 19 and 50 years of age, completion of vocational education and the average length of hospital stay. Collectively, these variables explained only a third of the variance of the FNR ESBL-E load, indicating further, yet-unidentified factors as a contributor to the distribution. About half of the variation in the FNR CRE load was explained by the average length of hospital stay, showing healthcare-related drivers. Interestingly, variation in the FNR VRE load was not correlated to healthcare-related parameters but to the number of schools per 10,000 population. Our study provides insight into how routine wastewater surveillance can be used to understand the factors driving the distribution of AMR in an urban community. Such information can help to manage and mitigate the emergence and spread of AMR in important human pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zillur Rahman
- Centre for Marine Science and Innovation, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Australia
| | - Weijia Liu
- School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, Australia
| | | | | | - Dewa A P Rasmika Dewi
- Centre for Marine Science and Innovation, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Australia
| | - Ori Gudes
- School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, Australia; School of Built Environment, UNSW Sydney, Australia
| | - Helen Ziochos
- Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, NSW Health Pathology, Liverpool, NSW, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Global Water Institute, UNSW Sydney, Australia; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Australia
| | - Kaye Power
- Sydney Water, Parramatta, NSW, Australia
| | - Mary-Louise McLaws
- School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, Australia; UNSW Global Water Institute, UNSW Sydney, Australia
| | - Torsten Thomas
- Centre for Marine Science and Innovation, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Australia.
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7
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Rao NRH, Linge KL, Li X, Joll CA, Khan SJ, Henderson RK. Relating algal-derived extracellular and intracellular dissolved organic nitrogen with nitrogenous disinfection by-product formation. Water Res 2023; 233:119695. [PMID: 36827767 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.119695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) pool from algal-derived extracellular and intracellular organic matter (EOM and IOM) comprises proteins, peptides, free amino acids and carbohydrates, of which, proteins can contribute up to 100% of the DON. Previous reports of algal-derived DON character have focused on bulk properties including concentration, molecular weight and hydrophobicity. However, these can be similar between algal species and between the EOM and IOM even when the inherent molecular structures vary. A focus on bulk character presents challenges to the research on algal-derived nitrogenous-disinfection by-product (N-DBP) formation as N-DBP formation is sensitive to the changes in molecular structure. Hence, the main aim of this study was to characterize algal EOM and IOM-derived DON, specifically proteinaceous-DON, using a combination of bulk and molecular characterization techniques to enable a more detailed exploration of the relationship between the character of algal-derived proteins and the N-DBP formation potential. DON from the EOM and IOM of four commonly found algae and cyanobacteria in natural waters were evaluated, namely Chlorella vulgaris, Microcystis aeruginosa, Dolichospermum circinale, and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. It was observed that 77-96% of total DON in all EOM and IOM samples was of proteinaceous origin. In the proteins, DON concentrations were highest in the high molecular weight fraction of IOM-derived bulk proteins (0.13-0.75 mg N L-1) and low to medium molecular weight fraction of EOM-derived bulk proteins (0.15-0.63 mg N L-1) in all species. Similar observations were also made via sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry. Solid-state 15N nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of the EOM and IOM revealed the existence of common aliphatic and heterocyclic N-groups in all samples, including a dominant 2° amide peak. Species dependent variability was also observed in the spectra, particularly in the EOM; e.g. nitro signals were found only in the Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii EOM. Dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN) and N-nitrosamine concentrations from the EOM of the species evaluated in this study were lower than the guideline limits set by regulatory agencies. It is proposed that the dominant 2° amide in all samples decreased N-DBP formation upon chlorination. For chloramination, the presence of nitro groups and aliphatic and heterocyclic N-DBP precursors could cause variable N-nitrosamine formation. Compared to non-algal impacted waters, algae-laden waters are characterised by low organic carbon: organic nitrogen ratios of ∼7-14 and elevated DON and protein concentrations. Hence, relying only on bulk characterization increases the perceived risk of N-DBP formation from algae-laden waters.
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Affiliation(s)
- N R H Rao
- AOM Lab, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - K L Linge
- Curtin Water Quality Research Centre, Chemistry, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia; ChemCentre, Perth, Australia
| | - X Li
- AOM Lab, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - C A Joll
- Curtin Water Quality Research Centre, Chemistry, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
| | - S J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - R K Henderson
- AOM Lab, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
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8
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Li RA, McDonald JA, Sathasivan A, Khan SJ. Multivariate experimental design provides insights for the optimisation of rechloramination conditions and water age to control disinfectant decay and disinfection by-product formation in treated drinking water. Sci Total Environ 2022; 830:154324. [PMID: 35283134 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Revised: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The stability of drinking water disinfectant residuals is known to be influenced by multiple variables. To evaluate the effects of various influencing variables on disinfectant stability, a multivariate analysis of chloramine decay and associated disinfection by-products (DBPs) formation was investigated in a series of bench-scale experiments. Of nine water quality variables previously identified, monochloramine dose, pH, and bromide concentration were selected as key water quality variables based on previous investigations and modelling. Co-effects of these key variables on monochloramine decay and formation of 33 halogenated and nitrogen-containing DBPs were investigated using response surface experimental design. Rechloramination conditions, including monochloramine dose, pH and bromide concentration, were optimised via a 3-factorial multivariate analysis of monochloramine stability in post-treatment drinking water. Effects of influencing variables on disinfectant decay and DBP formation were assessed and graphically presented as response surfaces with minimal experiments using Doehlert matrix experimental design compared to other multivariate experimental designs. Concentrations of trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), and N-nitrosamines were found to increase with water age, whereas opposite phenomenon was observed in the net production of haloacetonitriles (HANs). Increasing pH was found to stabilise monochloramine but it could cause DBP speciation to shift. Furthermore, increasing bromide concentration elevated Br-DBP formation. In bromide-containing water, pH = 7.8-8.0 should be considered as higher pH increases Br-THMs formations and lower pH increases formations of Br-HAAs and Br-HANs. However, water age or pH has insignificant impacts on DBP formation after significant monochloramine decay or at low initial monochloramine dose. These findings indicate that effective combined control measures to maintain monochloramine stability should include the application of high monochloramine dose (>1.5 mg-Cl2.L-1) under conditions of moderate to high pH (pH = 7.8-8.0) and minimal bromide concentration. This study provides relevant insights to water utilities aiming to design effective disinfectant residual management strategies for controlling monochloramine decay and DBP formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca A Li
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - James A McDonald
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Arumugam Sathasivan
- School of Computing Engineering and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney, Kingswood, NSW 2747, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
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9
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Nguyen QA, Vu HP, McDonald JA, Nguyen LN, Leusch FDL, Neale PA, Khan SJ, Nghiem LD. Chiral Inversion of 2-Arylpropionic Acid Enantiomers under Anaerobic Conditions. Environ Sci Technol 2022; 56:8197-8208. [PMID: 35675163 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c01602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
This work examined the chiral inversion of 2-arylpropionic acids (2-APAs) under anaerobic conditions and the associated microbial community. The anaerobic condition was simulated by two identical anaerobic digesters. Each digester was fed with the substrate containing 11 either pure (R)- or pure (S)-2-APA enantiomers. Chiral inversion was evidenced by the concentration increase of the other enantiomer in the digestate and the changes in the enantiomeric fraction between the two enantiomers. Both digesters showed similar and poor removal of 2-APAs (≤30%, except for naproxen) and diverse chiral inversion behaviors under anaerobic conditions. Four compounds exhibited (S → R) unidirectional inversion [flurbiprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen, and 2-(4-tert-butylphenyl)propionic acid], and the remaining seven compounds showed bidirectional inversion. Several aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacterial genera (Candidatus Microthrix, Rhodococcus, Mycobacterium, Gordonia, and Sphingobium) were identified in both digesters and predicted to harbor the 2-arylpropionyl-CoA epimerase (enzyme involved in chiral inversion) encoding gene. These genera presented at low abundances, <0.5% in the digester dosed with (R)-2-APAs and <0.2% in the digester dosed with (S)-2-APAs. The low abundances of these genera explain the limited extent of chiral inversion observed in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quynh Anh Nguyen
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Hang P Vu
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, New South Wales, Australia
| | - James A McDonald
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Luong N Nguyen
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, New South Wales, Australia
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10
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Thomas ZA, Mooney S, Cadd H, Baker A, Turney C, Schneider L, Hogg A, Haberle S, Green K, Weyrich LS, Perez V, Moore NE, Zawadzki A, Kelloway SJ, Khan SJ. Corrigendum to "Late Holocene climate anomaly concurrent with fire activity and ecosystem shifts in the eastern Australian Highlands" [Sci. Total Environ. 802 (2021)149542]. Sci Total Environ 2022; 811:152367. [PMID: 34953252 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Zoë A Thomas
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia.
| | - Scott Mooney
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia
| | - Haidee Cadd
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia
| | - Andy Baker
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia
| | - Chris Turney
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia
| | - Larissa Schneider
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia; School of Culture, History and Language, Australian National University, Coombs Bld 9, Fellows Rd., 2601 Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Alan Hogg
- Waikato Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Simon Haberle
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia; Waikato Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Ken Green
- College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Laura S Weyrich
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia; Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide, Australia; Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States; Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States
| | - Vilma Perez
- Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide, Australia
| | - Nicole E Moore
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States
| | - Atun Zawadzki
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, New Illawarra Road, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia
| | - Sarah J Kelloway
- Sydney Analytical, University of Sydney, Madsen Building, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Australia
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11
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Sivagurunathan V, Elsawah S, Khan SJ. Scenarios for urban water management futures: A systematic review. Water Res 2022; 211:118079. [PMID: 35066258 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Constantly changing and evolving social, economic, political, and environmental landscapes create new uncertainties in urban water supplies. These uncertainties surrounding urban water management have been captured using various scenario analysis techniques, which have been developed to envision plausible futures. Although past review papers have conducted broad reviews on water-related issues and water management generally, there has been a lack of attention to urban water management specifically. The growing uncertainty surrounding urban water management systems necessitates a focused review specifically aimed at the use of scenarios in urban water management. Using a comprehensive typology, a systematic review is presented to empirically investigate the necessary dimensions of urban water management scenario assessment. Urban water management scenario studies that exclusively employ qualitative methods, as well as urban water management studies that employ qualitative methods with quantitative techniques, are reviewed against the comprehensive typology. By aligning the reviewed scenarios with the dimensions in the typology, some important gaps in the current literature were identified. The need for: (i) transparency in scenario development and analysis processes, (ii) inclusion of surprises and extreme events, (iii) validation efforts and (iv) considering the impact phase of a scenario process. Recommendations are proposed to address the above gaps in current urban water scenarios literature, providing a path for future scenario analysis in urban water management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Varsha Sivagurunathan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Sondoss Elsawah
- Capability Systems Centre, School of Engineering &Information Technology, UNSW Canberra, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
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12
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Nguyen AQ, Nguyen LN, McDonald JA, Nghiem LD, Leusch FDL, Neale PA, Khan SJ. Chiral inversion of 2-arylpropionoic acid (2-APA) enantiomers during simulated biological wastewater treatment. Water Res 2022; 209:117871. [PMID: 34872028 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
This study examined the removal and enantio‑specific fate of a suite of eleven chiral 2-arylpropionic acids (2-APAs) during biological wastewater treatment simulated in a laboratory-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR). Using pure (R)- and (S)- enantiomers in the MBR influent, chiral inversion was determined through the increase in the concentration of the non-dominant enantiomer and changes in the enantiomeric fraction (EF) between the two enantiomers during the treatment process. Effective (>90%) and similar removal rates between (R)- and (S)- enantiomers were confirmed for eight 2-APAs. In this study, 2-APAs exhibited diverse and distinctive chiral inversion behaviours: two 2-APAs showed (R→S) unidirectional inversion, three 2-APAs showed (S→R) unidirectional inversion, and six 2-APAs showed bidirectional inversion. This is the first study to report chiral inversion behaviours of a comprehensive suite of 2-APAs with a variety of functional groups substituted onto the aryl ring. A decrease in effluent EF over time was observed for two 2-APAs. This study shows that chiral inversion of 2-APAs varies significantly from compound to compound, despite the high similarity in their chemical structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anh Q Nguyen
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Luong N Nguyen
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia
| | - James A McDonald
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia; Institute of Environmental Sciences, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
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13
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Ahmed W, Simpson SL, Bertsch PM, Bibby K, Bivins A, Blackall LL, Bofill-Mas S, Bosch A, Brandão J, Choi PM, Ciesielski M, Donner E, D'Souza N, Farnleitner AH, Gerrity D, Gonzalez R, Griffith JF, Gyawali P, Haas CN, Hamilton KA, Hapuarachchi HC, Harwood VJ, Haque R, Jackson G, Khan SJ, Khan W, Kitajima M, Korajkic A, La Rosa G, Layton BA, Lipp E, McLellan SL, McMinn B, Medema G, Metcalfe S, Meijer WG, Mueller JF, Murphy H, Naughton CC, Noble RT, Payyappat S, Petterson S, Pitkänen T, Rajal VB, Reyneke B, Roman FA, Rose JB, Rusiñol M, Sadowsky MJ, Sala-Comorera L, Setoh YX, Sherchan SP, Sirikanchana K, Smith W, Steele JA, Sabburg R, Symonds EM, Thai P, Thomas KV, Tynan J, Toze S, Thompson J, Whiteley AS, Wong JCC, Sano D, Wuertz S, Xagoraraki I, Zhang Q, Zimmer-Faust AG, Shanks OC. Minimizing errors in RT-PCR detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA for wastewater surveillance. Sci Total Environ 2022. [PMID: 34818780 DOI: 10.20944/preprints202104.0481.v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater surveillance for pathogens using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is an effective and resource-efficient tool for gathering community-level public health information, including the incidence of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Surveillance of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater can potentially provide an early warning signal of COVID-19 infections in a community. The capacity of the world's environmental microbiology and virology laboratories for SARS-CoV-2 RNA characterization in wastewater is increasing rapidly. However, there are no standardized protocols or harmonized quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance. This paper is a technical review of factors that can cause false-positive and false-negative errors in the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater, culminating in recommended strategies that can be implemented to identify and mitigate some of these errors. Recommendations include stringent QA/QC measures, representative sampling approaches, effective virus concentration and efficient RNA extraction, PCR inhibition assessment, inclusion of sample processing controls, and considerations for RT-PCR assay selection and data interpretation. Clear data interpretation guidelines (e.g., determination of positive and negative samples) are critical, particularly when the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is low. Corrective and confirmatory actions must be in place for inconclusive results or results diverging from current trends (e.g., initial onset or reemergence of COVID-19 in a community). It is also prudent to perform interlaboratory comparisons to ensure results' reliability and interpretability for prospective and retrospective analyses. The strategies that are recommended in this review aim to improve SARS-CoV-2 characterization and detection for wastewater surveillance applications. A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that the efficacy of wastewater surveillance continues to be demonstrated during this global crisis. In the future, wastewater should also play an important role in the surveillance of a range of other communicable diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Warish Ahmed
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia.
| | | | - Paul M Bertsch
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Kyle Bibby
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Science, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Science, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Linda L Blackall
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Sílvia Bofill-Mas
- Laboratory of Virus Contaminants of Water and Food, Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Albert Bosch
- Enteric Virus Laboratory, Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, University of Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - João Brandão
- Department of Environmental Health, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Phil M Choi
- Water Unit, Health Protection Branch, Prevention Division, Queensland Health, QLD, Australia; The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, QLD, Australia
| | - Mark Ciesielski
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Institute of Marine Sciences, Morehead City, NC, United States
| | - Erica Donner
- Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, University Boulevard, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia
| | - Nishita D'Souza
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Andreas H Farnleitner
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental & Bioscience Engineering, Research Group Environmental Microbiology and Molecular Diagnostic, 166/5/3, Technische Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria; Research Division Water Quality and Health, Department Pharmacology, Physiology and Microbiology, Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Dr. Karl-Dorrek-Straβe 30, 3500 Krems an der Donau, Austria
| | - Daniel Gerrity
- Southern Nevada Water Authority, P.O. Box 99954, Las Vegas, NV 89193, USA
| | - Raul Gonzalez
- Hampton Roads Sanitation District, 1434 Air Rail Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23455, USA
| | - John F Griffith
- Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA
| | - Pradip Gyawali
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR), Porirua 5240, New Zealand
| | | | - Kerry A Hamilton
- School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and The Biodesign Institute Center for Environmental Health Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | | | - Valerie J Harwood
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Rehnuma Haque
- Environmental Interventions Unit, Icddr,b, 68 Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
| | - Greg Jackson
- Water Unit, Health Protection Branch, Prevention Division, Queensland Health, QLD, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Wesaal Khan
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Asja Korajkic
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 26W Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
| | - Giuseppina La Rosa
- Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Blythe A Layton
- Department of Research & Innovation, Clean Water Services, Hillsboro, OR, USA
| | - Erin Lipp
- Environmental Health Sciences Department, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Sandra L McLellan
- School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - Brian McMinn
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 26W Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
| | - Gertjan Medema
- KWR Water Research Institute, Groningenhaven 7, 3433 PE Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
| | - Suzanne Metcalfe
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Wim G Meijer
- UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, QLD, Australia
| | - Heather Murphy
- Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Coleen C Naughton
- University of California Merced, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 5200 N. Lake Rd., Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Rachel T Noble
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Institute of Marine Sciences, Morehead City, NC, United States
| | - Sudhi Payyappat
- Sydney Water, 1 Smith Street, Parramatta, NSW 2150, Australia
| | - Susan Petterson
- Water and Health Pty Ltd., 13 Lord St, North Sydney, NSW 2060, Australia; School of Medicine, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Gold Coast, Australia
| | - Tarja Pitkänen
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, P.O. Box 95, FI-70701 Kuopio, Finland; University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, P.O. Box 66, FI-00014, Finland
| | - Veronica B Rajal
- Facultad de Ingeniería and Instituto de Investigaciones para la Industria Química (INIQUI) - CONICET and Universidad Nacional de Salta, Av. Bolivia 5150, Salta, Argentina
| | - Brandon Reyneke
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa
| | - Fernando A Roman
- University of California Merced, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 5200 N. Lake Rd., Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Joan B Rose
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Marta Rusiñol
- Institute of Environmental Assessment & Water Research (IDAEA), CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Michael J Sadowsky
- Biotechnology Institute and Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Laura Sala-Comorera
- UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Yin Xiang Setoh
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, Singapore
| | - Samendra P Sherchan
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, 1440 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Kwanrawee Sirikanchana
- Research Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn Research Institute, 54 Kampangpetch 6 Road, Laksi, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
| | - Wendy Smith
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Joshua A Steele
- Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA
| | - Rosalie Sabburg
- CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia
| | - Erin M Symonds
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Phong Thai
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, QLD, Australia
| | - Kevin V Thomas
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, QLD, Australia
| | - Josh Tynan
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, QLD, Australia
| | - Simon Toze
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Janelle Thompson
- Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore; Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) Singapore 637551
| | | | | | - Daisuke Sano
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-Ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8597, Japan
| | - Stefan Wuertz
- Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) Singapore 637551; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798
| | - Irene Xagoraraki
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Qian Zhang
- Biotechnology Institute and Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | | | - Orin C Shanks
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 26W Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
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14
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Ahmed W, Simpson SL, Bertsch PM, Bibby K, Bivins A, Blackall LL, Bofill-Mas S, Bosch A, Brandão J, Choi PM, Ciesielski M, Donner E, D'Souza N, Farnleitner AH, Gerrity D, Gonzalez R, Griffith JF, Gyawali P, Haas CN, Hamilton KA, Hapuarachchi HC, Harwood VJ, Haque R, Jackson G, Khan SJ, Khan W, Kitajima M, Korajkic A, La Rosa G, Layton BA, Lipp E, McLellan SL, McMinn B, Medema G, Metcalfe S, Meijer WG, Mueller JF, Murphy H, Naughton CC, Noble RT, Payyappat S, Petterson S, Pitkänen T, Rajal VB, Reyneke B, Roman FA, Rose JB, Rusiñol M, Sadowsky MJ, Sala-Comorera L, Setoh YX, Sherchan SP, Sirikanchana K, Smith W, Steele JA, Sabburg R, Symonds EM, Thai P, Thomas KV, Tynan J, Toze S, Thompson J, Whiteley AS, Wong JCC, Sano D, Wuertz S, Xagoraraki I, Zhang Q, Zimmer-Faust AG, Shanks OC. Minimizing errors in RT-PCR detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA for wastewater surveillance. Sci Total Environ 2022; 805:149877. [PMID: 34818780 PMCID: PMC8386095 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 57.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Revised: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater surveillance for pathogens using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is an effective and resource-efficient tool for gathering community-level public health information, including the incidence of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Surveillance of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater can potentially provide an early warning signal of COVID-19 infections in a community. The capacity of the world's environmental microbiology and virology laboratories for SARS-CoV-2 RNA characterization in wastewater is increasing rapidly. However, there are no standardized protocols or harmonized quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance. This paper is a technical review of factors that can cause false-positive and false-negative errors in the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater, culminating in recommended strategies that can be implemented to identify and mitigate some of these errors. Recommendations include stringent QA/QC measures, representative sampling approaches, effective virus concentration and efficient RNA extraction, PCR inhibition assessment, inclusion of sample processing controls, and considerations for RT-PCR assay selection and data interpretation. Clear data interpretation guidelines (e.g., determination of positive and negative samples) are critical, particularly when the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is low. Corrective and confirmatory actions must be in place for inconclusive results or results diverging from current trends (e.g., initial onset or reemergence of COVID-19 in a community). It is also prudent to perform interlaboratory comparisons to ensure results' reliability and interpretability for prospective and retrospective analyses. The strategies that are recommended in this review aim to improve SARS-CoV-2 characterization and detection for wastewater surveillance applications. A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that the efficacy of wastewater surveillance continues to be demonstrated during this global crisis. In the future, wastewater should also play an important role in the surveillance of a range of other communicable diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Warish Ahmed
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia.
| | | | - Paul M Bertsch
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Kyle Bibby
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Science, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Science, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Linda L Blackall
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Sílvia Bofill-Mas
- Laboratory of Virus Contaminants of Water and Food, Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Albert Bosch
- Enteric Virus Laboratory, Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, University of Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - João Brandão
- Department of Environmental Health, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Phil M Choi
- Water Unit, Health Protection Branch, Prevention Division, Queensland Health, QLD, Australia; The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, QLD, Australia
| | - Mark Ciesielski
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Institute of Marine Sciences, Morehead City, NC, United States
| | - Erica Donner
- Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, University Boulevard, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia
| | - Nishita D'Souza
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Andreas H Farnleitner
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental & Bioscience Engineering, Research Group Environmental Microbiology and Molecular Diagnostic, 166/5/3, Technische Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria; Research Division Water Quality and Health, Department Pharmacology, Physiology and Microbiology, Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Dr. Karl-Dorrek-Straβe 30, 3500 Krems an der Donau, Austria
| | - Daniel Gerrity
- Southern Nevada Water Authority, P.O. Box 99954, Las Vegas, NV 89193, USA
| | - Raul Gonzalez
- Hampton Roads Sanitation District, 1434 Air Rail Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23455, USA
| | - John F Griffith
- Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA
| | - Pradip Gyawali
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR), Porirua 5240, New Zealand
| | | | - Kerry A Hamilton
- School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and The Biodesign Institute Center for Environmental Health Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | | | - Valerie J Harwood
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Rehnuma Haque
- Environmental Interventions Unit, Icddr,b, 68 Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
| | - Greg Jackson
- Water Unit, Health Protection Branch, Prevention Division, Queensland Health, QLD, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Wesaal Khan
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Asja Korajkic
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 26W Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
| | - Giuseppina La Rosa
- Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Blythe A Layton
- Department of Research & Innovation, Clean Water Services, Hillsboro, OR, USA
| | - Erin Lipp
- Environmental Health Sciences Department, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Sandra L McLellan
- School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - Brian McMinn
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 26W Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
| | - Gertjan Medema
- KWR Water Research Institute, Groningenhaven 7, 3433 PE Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
| | - Suzanne Metcalfe
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Wim G Meijer
- UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, QLD, Australia
| | - Heather Murphy
- Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Coleen C Naughton
- University of California Merced, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 5200 N. Lake Rd., Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Rachel T Noble
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Institute of Marine Sciences, Morehead City, NC, United States
| | - Sudhi Payyappat
- Sydney Water, 1 Smith Street, Parramatta, NSW 2150, Australia
| | - Susan Petterson
- Water and Health Pty Ltd., 13 Lord St, North Sydney, NSW 2060, Australia; School of Medicine, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Gold Coast, Australia
| | - Tarja Pitkänen
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, P.O. Box 95, FI-70701 Kuopio, Finland; University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, P.O. Box 66, FI-00014, Finland
| | - Veronica B Rajal
- Facultad de Ingeniería and Instituto de Investigaciones para la Industria Química (INIQUI) - CONICET and Universidad Nacional de Salta, Av. Bolivia 5150, Salta, Argentina
| | - Brandon Reyneke
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa
| | - Fernando A Roman
- University of California Merced, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 5200 N. Lake Rd., Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Joan B Rose
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Marta Rusiñol
- Institute of Environmental Assessment & Water Research (IDAEA), CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Michael J Sadowsky
- Biotechnology Institute and Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Laura Sala-Comorera
- UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Yin Xiang Setoh
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, Singapore
| | - Samendra P Sherchan
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, 1440 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Kwanrawee Sirikanchana
- Research Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn Research Institute, 54 Kampangpetch 6 Road, Laksi, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
| | - Wendy Smith
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Joshua A Steele
- Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA
| | - Rosalie Sabburg
- CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia
| | - Erin M Symonds
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Phong Thai
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, QLD, Australia
| | - Kevin V Thomas
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, QLD, Australia
| | - Josh Tynan
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, QLD, Australia
| | - Simon Toze
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Janelle Thompson
- Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore; Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) Singapore 637551
| | | | | | - Daisuke Sano
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-Ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8597, Japan
| | - Stefan Wuertz
- Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) Singapore 637551; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798
| | - Irene Xagoraraki
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Qian Zhang
- Biotechnology Institute and Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | | | - Orin C Shanks
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 26W Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
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15
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Brack W, Barcelo Culleres D, Boxall ABA, Budzinski H, Castiglioni S, Covaci A, Dulio V, Escher BI, Fantke P, Kandie F, Fatta-Kassinos D, Hernández FJ, Hilscherová K, Hollender J, Hollert H, Jahnke A, Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Khan SJ, Kortenkamp A, Kümmerer K, Lalonde B, Lamoree MH, Levi Y, Lara Martín PA, Montagner CC, Mougin C, Msagati T, Oehlmann J, Posthuma L, Reid M, Reinhard M, Richardson SD, Rostkowski P, Schymanski E, Schneider F, Slobodnik J, Shibata Y, Snyder SA, Fabriz Sodré F, Teodorovic I, Thomas KV, Umbuzeiro GA, Viet PH, Yew-Hoong KG, Zhang X, Zuccato E. One planet: one health. A call to support the initiative on a global science-policy body on chemicals and waste. Environ Sci Eur 2022; 34:21. [PMID: 35281760 PMCID: PMC8902847 DOI: 10.1186/s12302-022-00602-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
The chemical pollution crisis severely threatens human and environmental health globally. To tackle this challenge the establishment of an overarching international science-policy body has recently been suggested. We strongly support this initiative based on the awareness that humanity has already likely left the safe operating space within planetary boundaries for novel entities including chemical pollution. Immediate action is essential and needs to be informed by sound scientific knowledge and data compiled and critically evaluated by an overarching science-policy interface body. Major challenges for such a body are (i) to foster global knowledge production on exposure, impacts and governance going beyond data-rich regions (e.g., Europe and North America), (ii) to cover the entirety of hazardous chemicals, mixtures and wastes, (iii) to follow a one-health perspective considering the risks posed by chemicals and waste on ecosystem and human health, and (iv) to strive for solution-oriented assessments based on systems thinking. Based on multiple evidence on urgent action on a global scale, we call scientists and practitioners to mobilize their scientific networks and to intensify science-policy interaction with national governments to support the negotiations on the establishment of an intergovernmental body based on scientific knowledge explaining the anticipated benefit for human and environmental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Werner Brack
- UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Faculty Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-der-Laue-Straße 13, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Damia Barcelo Culleres
- Catalan Institute of Water Research, Carrer Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain
- Spanish National Research Council, Institute for Environmental Assessment & Water Research, Water & Soil Quality Research Group, Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Hélène Budzinski
- Université de Bordeaux, 351 crs de la Libération, 33405 Talence, France
| | - Sara Castiglioni
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Via Mario Negri 2, 20156 Milan, Italy
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplen 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Valeria Dulio
- INERIS - Direction Milieu et Impacts sur le Vivant (MIV), Parc technologique ALATA, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Beate I. Escher
- UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Peter Fantke
- Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark, Produktionstorvet 424, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Faith Kandie
- Department of Biological Sciences, Moi University, 3900-30100 Eldoret, Kenya
| | - Despo Fatta-Kassinos
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Nireas-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Félix J. Hernández
- Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, 12006 Castellon, Spain
| | - Klara Hilscherová
- RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Juliane Hollender
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
- Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Henner Hollert
- Faculty Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-der-Laue-Straße 13, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Annika Jahnke
- UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
- RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | | | - Stuart J. Khan
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052 Australia
| | - Andreas Kortenkamp
- Centre for Pollution Research and Policy, Department of Life Sciences, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH UK
| | - Klaus Kümmerer
- Institute for Sustainable Chemistry, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany
| | - Brice Lalonde
- The French Water Academy, 51 rue Salvador-Allende, 92027 Nanterre, France
| | - Marja H. Lamoree
- Department Environment & Health, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Yves Levi
- The French Water Academy, 51 rue Salvador-Allende, 92027 Nanterre, France
| | - Pablo Antonio Lara Martín
- Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz – European Universities of the Seas, Campus Río San Pedro, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz Spain
| | | | - Christian Mougin
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, UMR ECOSYS, 78026 Versailles, France
| | - Titus Msagati
- Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability (iNanoWS), College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET), University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Jörg Oehlmann
- Faculty Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-der-Laue-Straße 13, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Leo Posthuma
- RIVM-National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
- Department of Environmental Science, Radbound University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Malcolm Reid
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Environmental Chemistry and Technology, Oslo, Norway
| | | | - Susan D. Richardson
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 USA
| | - Pawel Rostkowski
- NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, P.O. Box 100, 2027 Kjeller, Norway
| | - Emma Schymanski
- University of Luxembourg, 6 avenue du Swing, 4367 Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Flurina Schneider
- Faculty Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-der-Laue-Straße 13, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
- Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE), Hamburger Alee 45, 60486 Frankfurt, Germany
| | | | - Yasuyuki Shibata
- Environmental Safety Center, Tokyo University of Science, 12-1 Ichigaya-Funagawara, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-0826 Japan
| | - Shane Allen Snyder
- Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | | | | | - Kevin V. Thomas
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102 Australia
| | | | - Pham Hung Viet
- VNU Key Laboratory of Analytical Technology for Environmental Quality, Vietnam National University, 334 Nguyen Trai, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Karina Gin Yew-Hoong
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Drive 2, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Xiaowei Zhang
- Centre of Chemical Safety and Risks, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ettore Zuccato
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Via Mario Negri 2, 20156 Milan, Italy
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16
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Thomas ZA, Mooney S, Cadd H, Baker A, Turney C, Schneider L, Hogg A, Haberle S, Green K, Weyrich LS, Pérez V, Moore NE, Zawadzki A, Kelloway SJ, Khan SJ. Late Holocene climate anomaly concurrent with fire activity and ecosystem shifts in the eastern Australian Highlands. Sci Total Environ 2022; 802:149542. [PMID: 34454138 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The alpine area of the Australian mainland is highly sensitive to climate and environmental change, and potentially vulnerable to ecosystem tipping points. Over the next two decades the Australian alpine region is predicted to experience temperature increases of at least 1 °C, coupled with a substantial decrease in snow cover. Extending the short instrumental record in these regions is imperative to put future change into context, and potentially provide analogues of warming. We reconstructed past temperatures, using a lipid biomarker palaeothermometer technique and mercury flux changes for the past 3500 years from the sediments of Club Lake, a high-altitude alpine tarn in the Snowy Mountains, southeastern Australia. Using a multi-proxy framework, including pollen and charcoal analyses, high-resolution geochemistry, and ancient microbial community composition, supported by high-resolution 210Pb and AMS 14C dating, we investigated local and regional ecological and environmental changes occurring in response to changes in temperature. We find the region experienced a general warming trend over the last 3500 years, with a pronounced climate anomaly occurring between 1000 and 1600 cal yrs. BP. Shifts in vegetation took place during this warm period, characterised by a decline in alpine species and an increase in open woodland taxa which co-occurred with an increase in regional fire activity. Given the narrow altitudinal band of Australian alpine vegetation, any future warming has the potential to result in the extinction of alpine species, including several endemic to the area, as treelines are driven to higher elevations. These findings suggest ongoing conservation efforts will be needed to protect the vulnerable alpine environments from the combined threats of climate changes, fire and invasive species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoë A Thomas
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia.
| | - Scott Mooney
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia
| | - Haidee Cadd
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia
| | - Andy Baker
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia
| | - Chris Turney
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia
| | - Larissa Schneider
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia; School of Culture, History and Language. Australian National University. Coombs Bld 9, Fellows Rd., 2601 Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Alan Hogg
- Waikato Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Simon Haberle
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia; School of Culture, History and Language. Australian National University. Coombs Bld 9, Fellows Rd., 2601 Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Ken Green
- College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Laura S Weyrich
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), Australia; Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide, Australia; Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States; Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States
| | - Vilma Pérez
- Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide, Australia
| | - Nicole E Moore
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States
| | - Atun Zawadzki
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, New Illawarra Road, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia
| | - Sarah J Kelloway
- Sydney Analytical, University of Sydney, Madsen Building, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Australia
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17
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Srivastava P, Abbassi R, Yadav A, Garaniya V, Asadnia M, Lewis T, Khan SJ. Influence of applied potential on treatment performance and clogging behaviour of hybrid constructed wetland-microbial electrochemical technologies. Chemosphere 2021; 284:131296. [PMID: 34182282 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
A two-stage hybrid Constructed Wetland (CW) integrated with a microbial fuel cell (MFC), and microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) has been assessed for treatment performance and clogging assessment and further compared with CW. The CW-MEC was operated with applied potential to the working electrode and compared with the performance of naturally adapted redox potential of the CW-MFC system. A complex synthetic municipal wastewater was used during the study, which was composed of trace metals, organics, inorganics, and dye. The study demonstrated that providing a constant potential to the working electrode in CW-MEC has resulted in high treatment performance and reduced sludge generation. The maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium (NH4+), and phosphate (PO43-) removal achieved during treatment by CW-MEC at 24 h hydraulic retention time was 89 ± 6%, 72 ± 6% and 93 ± 2%, respectively. ICP-MS results indicated that trace metal removals were also higher in CW-MEC than in CW alone (p < 0.05). At the end of the experiment, significant volumetric change (total volume of the microcosm) occurred in CW (1.3 L), which indicates high sludge generation, whereas it was lesser in CW-MEC (0.3 L) and in CW-MFC (0.5 L). Further, Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy results indicated low levels of metal precipitation in the CW-MEC system. Based on the Shannon diversity index, the CW-MEC was assessed to be characterised by high species richness and diversity. The observations from this study indicate that the applied potential at the working electrode has a significant impact on treatment performance and clogging behaviour of the system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pratiksha Srivastava
- Australian Maritime College, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Launceston, 7248, Australia
| | - Rouzbeh Abbassi
- School of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
| | - Asheesh Yadav
- Environment and Sustainability Department, CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, 751013, India
| | - Vikram Garaniya
- Australian Maritime College, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Launceston, 7248, Australia
| | - Mohsen Asadnia
- School of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Trevor Lewis
- School of Natural Sciences, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania, 7250, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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18
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Khan SJ. Ecological consequences of Australian "Black Summer" (2019-20) fires: A synthesis of Australian Commonwealth Government report findings. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021; 17:1136-1140. [PMID: 34028954 DOI: 10.1002/ieam.4469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
During the summer of 2019-2020, more than 15 000 wildfires burned up to 19 million hectares of forest and woodland regions across Australia. These fires culminated in the worst Australian fire season on record, producing what has come to be known as the Australian "Black Summer." The fires have been described as an "ecological disaster," but the scale of the impacts is so extensive that the full ecological consequence may take years to assess. In the immediate aftermath of the Black Summer fires, two major national investigations were established by the Australian Commonwealth Government. By reviewing reports produced by these two investigations, high-level insights into the scale of the ecological consequences of the Black Summer fires have been obtained and are summarized here. Through these insights, the urgency for action to reduce the occurrence, and improve the management, of future comparable fire events is made clear. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:1136-1140. © 2021 SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart J Khan
- University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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19
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Huang S, McDonald JA, Kuchel RP, Khan SJ, Leslie G, Tang CY, Mansouri J, Fane AG. Surface modification of nanofiltration membranes to improve the removal of organic micropollutants: Linking membrane characteristics to solute transmission. Water Res 2021; 203:117520. [PMID: 34392040 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Revised: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/31/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Surface modification of nanofiltration (NF) membranes has great potential to improve the removal of organic micropollutants (OMs) by NF membranes. This study used polydopamine (PDA) as a model coating to comprehensively link the changes in membrane properties with the changes in transmission of 34 OMs. The membrane characterization demonstrated that a thicker, denser, and more hydrophilic PDA coating can be achieved by increasing the PDA deposition time from 0.5 to 4 hours. Overall, the transmissions of target OMs were reduced by PDA-coated NF membranes compared to unmodified NF membranes. The neutral hydrophobic compounds showed lower transmissions for longer PDA coating (PDA4), while the neutral hydrophilic compounds tended to show lower transmissions for shorter PDA coating (PDA0.5). To explain this, competing effects provided by the PDA coatings are proposed including sealing defects, inducing cake-enhanced concentration polarization in the coating layer for neutral hydrophilic compounds, and weakened hydrophobic adsorption for neutral hydrophobic compounds. For charged compounds, PDA4 with the greatest negative charge among the PDA-coated membranes showed the lowest transmission. Depending on the molecular size and hydrophilicity of the compounds, the transmission of OMs by the PDA4 coating could be reduced by 70% with only a 26.4% decline in water permeance. The correlations and mechanistic insights provided by this work are highly useful for designing membranes with specific surface properties via surface modification to improve the removal of OMs without compromising water production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiyang Huang
- UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - James A McDonald
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Rhiannon P Kuchel
- Electron Microscopy Unit, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Greg Leslie
- UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Chuyang Y Tang
- Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Jaleh Mansouri
- UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Anthony G Fane
- UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
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20
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Bakhsh TA, Khan SJ, Gharamah HA, Alshoaibi E, Turkistani A. Nondestructive evaluation of microleakage in restored primary teeth using CP-OCT. Niger J Clin Pract 2021; 24:919-924. [PMID: 34121742 DOI: 10.4103/njcp.njcp_442_20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Background Although the demand for esthetic filling of primary teeth with resin composite is increasing, there is no enough data on the adhesive performance of composite restorations in primary teeth. Despite the improvements in resin composites, interfacial gap is still a disadvantage as it may cause marginal staining, secondary caries, and restoration failure. Previous studies have validated the efficiency of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the evaluation of adhesive interface in permanent teeth, but not in primary teeth. Aims The aim of this study was to assess microleakage upon composite restorations in primary teeth using cross-polarization OCT (CP-OCT). Methodology Cylindrical class-V cavities were prepared in extracted human primary second molars and divided into four groups randomly. In groups 1 and 2, cavities were restored using Tetric N-Universal adhesive in the self-etch mode followed by IPS Impress Direct Composite and Ceram.x One Universal composite, respectively. In groups 3 and 4, one-step self-etch Prime and Bond Elect adhesive was used followed by ID composite and CX composite in groups 3 and 4, respectively. The specimens were then immersed in a contrasting solution followed by interfacial microleakage examination under CP-OCT. The recorded images were analyzed to quantify the mean gap percentages. Results All tested groups showed variable degree of interfacial microleakage under composite restorations. Two-way ANOVA showed the composite factor was significantly influencing the results, unlike the adhesive. Group 1 and 2 had the lowest and highest mean gap percentage, respectively, which were significantly different from the other groups. Groups 3 and 4 were not significantly different. Conclusion Based on the current finding, a polymeric restorative system from the same manufacturer reduces the risk of interfacial microleakage in primary teeth.
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Affiliation(s)
- T A Bakhsh
- Restorative Dentistry Department, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80209, Jeddah 215-89; School of Dentistry, Alfarabi Private College, Jeddah; Dental Department, Doctor Samir Abbas Hospital, Jeddah 214-18, Saudi Arabia
| | - S J Khan
- Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80209, Jeddah 215-89, Saudi Arabia
| | - H A Gharamah
- Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80209, Jeddah 215-89, Saudi Arabia
| | - E Alshoaibi
- Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80209, Jeddah 215-89, Saudi Arabia
| | - A Turkistani
- Restorative Dentistry Department, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80209, Jeddah 215-89, Saudi Arabia
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21
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Robinne F, Hallema DW, Bladon KD, Flannigan MD, Boisramé G, Bréthaut CM, Doerr SH, Di Baldassarre G, Gallagher LA, Hohner AK, Khan SJ, Kinoshita AM, Mordecai R, Nunes JP, Nyman P, Santín C, Sheridan G, Stoof CR, Thompson MP, Waddington JM, Wei Y. Scientists' warning on extreme wildfire risks to water supply. Hydrol Process 2021; 35:e14086. [PMID: 34248273 PMCID: PMC8251805 DOI: 10.1002/hyp.14086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
2020 is the year of wildfire records. California experienced its three largest fires early in its fire season. The Pantanal, the largest wetland on the planet, burned over 20% of its surface. More than 18 million hectares of forest and bushland burned during the 2019-2020 fire season in Australia, killing 33 people, destroying nearly 2500 homes, and endangering many endemic species. The direct cost of damages is being counted in dozens of billion dollars, but the indirect costs on water-related ecosystem services and benefits could be equally expensive, with impacts lasting for decades. In Australia, the extreme precipitation ("200 mm day -1 in several location") that interrupted the catastrophic wildfire season triggered a series of watershed effects from headwaters to areas downstream. The increased runoff and erosion from burned areas disrupted water supplies in several locations. These post-fire watershed hazards via source water contamination, flash floods, and mudslides can represent substantial, systemic long-term risks to drinking water production, aquatic life, and socio-economic activity. Scenarios similar to the recent event in Australia are now predicted to unfold in the Western USA. This is a new reality that societies will have to live with as uncharted fire activity, water crises, and widespread human footprint collide all-around of the world. Therefore, we advocate for a more proactive approach to wildfire-watershed risk governance in an effort to advance and protect water security. We also argue that there is no easy solution to reducing this risk and that investments in both green (i.e., natural) and grey (i.e., built) infrastructure will be necessary. Further, we propose strategies to combine modern data analytics with existing tools for use by water and land managers worldwide to leverage several decades worth of data and knowledge on post-fire hydrology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dennis W. Hallema
- Department of Forestry and Environmental ResourcesNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Kevin D. Bladon
- Department of Forest Engineering, Resources and ManagementOregon State UniversityCorvallisOregonUSA
| | - Mike D. Flannigan
- Canadian Partnership for Wildland Fire ScienceUniversity of AlbertaEdmontonAlbertaCanada
| | - Gabrielle Boisramé
- Division of Hydrologic SciencesDesert Research InstituteLas VegasNevadaUSA
| | | | - Stefan H. Doerr
- Geography and Biosciences Departments, College of ScienceSwansea UniversitySwanseaUK
| | | | | | - Amanda K. Hohner
- Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringWashington State UniversityPullmanWashingtonUSA
| | - Stuart J. Khan
- School of Civil & Environmental EngineeringUniversity of New South WalesKensingtonNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Alicia M. Kinoshita
- Department of Civil, Construction, & Environmental EngineeringSan Diego State UniversitySan DiegoCaliforniaUSA
| | - Rua Mordecai
- South Atlantic Landscape Conservation CooperativeUnited States Fish and Wildlife ServiceRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA
- CE3C – Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de CiênciasUniversidade de LisboaLisbonPortugal
| | - João Pedro Nunes
- Department of Environmental SciencesWageningen UniversityWageningenthe Netherlands
| | - Petter Nyman
- Alluvium Consulting AustraliaCremorneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Cristina Santín
- Geography and Biosciences Departments, College of ScienceSwansea UniversitySwanseaUK
| | - Gary Sheridan
- School of Ecosystem and Forest SciencesUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
| | - Cathelijne R. Stoof
- Department of Environmental SciencesWageningen UniversityWageningenthe Netherlands
| | - Matthew P. Thompson
- Rocky Mountain Research Station, Human DimensionsUSDA Forest ServiceFort CollinsColoradoUSA
| | - James M. Waddington
- School of Earth, Environment & SocietyMcMaster UniversityHamiltonOntarioCanada
| | - Yu Wei
- Department of Forest and Rangeland StewardshipColorado State UniversityFort CollinsColoradoUSA
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22
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Jamil S, Loganathan P, Khan SJ, McDonald JA, Kandasamy J, Vigneswaran S. Enhanced nanofiltration rejection of inorganic and organic compounds from a wastewater-reclamation plant’s micro-filtered water using adsorption pre-treatment. Sep Purif Technol 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2020.118207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Li RA, McDonald JA, Sathasivan A, Khan SJ. A multivariate Bayesian network analysis of water quality factors influencing trihalomethanes formation in drinking water distribution systems. Water Res 2021; 190:116712. [PMID: 33310438 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Revised: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 11/29/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Controlling disinfection by-products formation while ensuring effective drinking water disinfection is important for protecting public health. However, understanding and predicting disinfection by-product formation under a variety of conditions in drinking water distribution systems remains challenging as disinfection by-product formation is a multifactorial phenomenon. This study aimed to assess the application of Bayesian Network models to predict the concentration of trihalomethanes, the dominant halogenated disinfection by-product class, using various water quality parameters. Naïve Bayesian and semi-naïve Bayesian models were constructed from Sydney and South East Queensland datasets across 15 drinking water distribution systems in Australia. The targeted variable, total trihalomethanes concentration, was discretised into 3 bins (<0.1 mg L-1, 0.1 - 0.2 mg L-1 and >0.2 mg L-1). The Bayesian network structures were built using water quality parameters including concentrations of individual and total trihalomethanes, disinfectant species (free chlorine, monochloramine, dichloramine, total chlorine), nitrogen species (free ammonia, total ammonia, nitrate, nitrite), and other physical/chemical parameters (temperature, pH, dissolved organic carbon, total dissolved solids, conductivity and turbidity). Seven performance parameters, including predictive accuracy and the rates of true and false positive and negative results, were used to assess the accuracy and precision of the Bayesian network models. After evaluating the model performance, the optimum models were selected to be Bayesian network augmented naïve models. These were observed to have the highest predictive accuracies for Sydney (78%) and South East Queensland (94%). Although disinfectant residuals are among the key variables that lead to trihalomethanes formation, potential concentrations of trihalomethanes in distribution systems can be more confidently predicted, in terms of probability associated with a wider range of water quality variables, using Bayesian networks. The modelling procedure developed in this work can now be applied to develop system-specific Bayesian network models for trihalomethanes prediction in other drinking water distribution systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca A Li
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia.
| | - James A McDonald
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia.
| | - Arumugam Sathasivan
- School of Computing Engineering and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney, Kingswood, NSW, 2747, Australia.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia.
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Jamil S, Loganathan P, Kandasamy J, Listowski A, McDonald JA, Khan SJ, Vigneswaran S. Removal of organic matter from wastewater reverse osmosis concentrate using granular activated carbon and anion exchange resin adsorbent columns in sequence. Chemosphere 2020; 261:127549. [PMID: 32707322 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Revised: 06/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) generated as a waste stream during reverse osmosis treatment of reclaimed wastewater, presents significant disposal challenges. This is because it causes environmental pollution when it is disposed to lands and natural water bodies. A long-term dynamic adsorption experiment was conducted by passing ROC from a wastewater reclamation plant, firstly through a granular activated carbon (GAC) column, and subsequently through an anion exchange resin (Purolite) column, for the removal of two major ROC pollutants, namely dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and microorganic pollutants (MOP). GAC removed most of the smaller-sized low molecular weight neutrals and building block fractions as well as the hydrophobic fraction of DOC with much less removal by the subsequent Purolite column. In contrast, the humics fraction was less well removed by the GAC column; however, Purolite column removed all that was remaining of this fraction. This study demonstrated that combining adsorbents having different affinities towards a variety of DOC fractions constitute an effective method of taking advantage of their different properties and achieving larger DOC removals. Almost 100% of all 17 MOPs were removed by the GAC column, even after 2880 bed volumes of continuous use. This contrasted with the DOC fractions' removal which was much lower.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahzad Jamil
- Faculty of Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), P.O. Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2127, Australia
| | - Paripurnanda Loganathan
- Faculty of Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), P.O. Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2127, Australia
| | - Jaya Kandasamy
- Faculty of Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), P.O. Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2127, Australia
| | - Andrzej Listowski
- Sydney Olympic Park Authority, 8, Australia Avenue, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW, Australia
| | - James A McDonald
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Saravanamuthu Vigneswaran
- Faculty of Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), P.O. Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2127, Australia.
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25
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Wang Y, Khan SJ, Fan L, Roddick F. Application of a QWASI model to produce validated insights into the fate and transport of six emerging contaminants in a wastewater lagoon system. Sci Total Environ 2020; 721:137676. [PMID: 32172107 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Revised: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 03/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The occurrence and fate of emerging contaminants (ECs) in surface water bodies is of increasing interest to water quality managers and environmental regulators throughout the world. Wastewater treatment plants are a major source of ECs in many aquatic environments. A modified Quantitative Water Air Sediment Interaction (QWASI) fugacity model was developed for a municipal wastewater lagoon system to study the behaviour of six representative ECs. As the wastewater lagoons were exposed to extensive periods of sunlight, the original model was modified by the addition of photolytic degradation as a removal mechanism. Laboratory studies were conducted over different seasons of a year to obtain the rate constants for the key processes of sunlight photodegradation, water and sediment transformation, as well as sediment sorption coefficients for the target ECs in the system to serve as model inputs. The model predicted the pathways for the different ECs and that at least 65% of the concentration of the ECs remained in the outflow of the first lagoon of the lagoon system after treatment. The greatest removal was predicted for sulfamethoxazole (35%) and the least for carbamazepine (5%). Multi-segment theory was applied to the single lagoon model and the predictions for the sequential six lagoon system were validated through field sampling. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the mass transfer coefficient between the water and sediment phases was the most influential parameter, with the four key process rate constants having various impacts depending on the EC. These results suggest that the modified QWASI model could be used to more accurately represent the fate and transport of ECs in this unique wastewater lagoon/stabilisation pond treatment system. Furthermore, it can be adapted to model a wide range of ECs in other wastewater treatment lagoon systems and thus assist with process optimisation and risk assessment of the treated water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yufei Wang
- School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Linhua Fan
- School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Felicity Roddick
- School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
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26
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Srivastava P, Abbassi R, Kumar Yadav A, Garaniya V, Kumar N, Khan SJ, Lewis T. Enhanced chromium(VI) treatment in electroactive constructed wetlands: Influence of conductive material. J Hazard Mater 2020; 387:121722. [PMID: 31806439 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Revised: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
A constructed wetland (CW) microcosm based on conductive graphite gravel was investigated for hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) treatment from synthetic wastewater. Its performance was evaluated and compared with a traditional gravel-based CW microcosm. The microcosms were operated at varying initial Cr(VI) concentrations (5-20 mg/L) and hydraulic retention times (HRT) (3-7.5 h). Near complete treatment (99.9 ± 0.06 %) was achieved in the graphite-based microcosm throughout the experiment. The performance was consistently high throughout with 42.9 % improvement in Cr (VI) treatment compared to a traditional gravel microcosm. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) analysis indicated that chromium was adsorbed to microbial biofilms. Moreover, microbial diversity profiling suggested that the microbial population in both microcosms differed in diversity and communities. The results suggest that the use of conductive materials in CW significantly enhances the treatment of Cr(VI) and more importantly, allows microbial activity even at high levels of Cr(VI) in the CW.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pratiksha Srivastava
- Australian Maritime College, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Launceston, 7248, Australia
| | - Rouzbeh Abbassi
- School of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
| | - Asheesh Kumar Yadav
- Environment and Sustainability Department, CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, 751013, India
| | - Vikram Garaniya
- Australian Maritime College, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Launceston, 7248, Australia
| | - Naresh Kumar
- Department of Environmental Geosciences, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Trevor Lewis
- School of Natural Sciences, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania, 7250, Australia
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Wang Y, Fan L, Khan SJ, Roddick FA. Fugacity modelling of the fate of micropollutants in aqueous systems - Uncertainty and sensitivity issues. Sci Total Environ 2020; 699:134249. [PMID: 31522051 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2019] [Revised: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 09/01/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The application of multimedia fugacity models is useful to facilitate understanding of the behaviour of emerging contaminants during wastewater treatment, as well as after their release to the environment. In this paper, twenty-two fugacity modelling applications (reported over 1995-2019) describing the distribution of organic micropollutants in wastewater treatment plants and surface water bodies were analysed in terms of model application and modelling strategy. Disparities and similarities in strategies including selection of micropollutants, data sources for internal and external model inputs, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, as well as model validation were discussed. This review confirmed that fugacity modelling is very applicable for providing qualitative predictions of the fate and removal of organic micropollutants in the various aqueous systems. However, it was also noted that there are issues related to the uncertainties and sensitivities of fugacity models such as the sources of model inputs and selection of default settings. The issues associated with the uncertainties in the investigated fugacity models are pointed out. Recommendations are given regarding the selection of the sources of model inputs, sensitivity analysis strategies and model validation methods. This review presents the challenges and opportunities for improving multimedia fugacity models, and so paves the way for future research in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yufei Wang
- School of Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
| | - Linhua Fan
- School of Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Felicity A Roddick
- School of Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia.
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Guo Z, Liu J, Li Y, McDonald JA, Bin Zulkifli MY, Khan SJ, Xie L, Gu Z, Kong B, Liang K. Biocatalytic metal–organic framework nanomotors for active water decontamination. Chem Commun (Camb) 2020; 56:14837-14840. [DOI: 10.1039/d0cc06429g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Biocatalytic metal–organic framework nanomotors for active removal of heavy metal ions and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in aqueous environments.
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29
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Srivastava P, Yadav AK, Garaniya V, Lewis T, Abbassi R, Khan SJ. Electrode dependent anaerobic ammonium oxidation in microbial fuel cell integrated hybrid constructed wetlands: A new process. Sci Total Environ 2020; 698:134248. [PMID: 31494423 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2019] [Revised: 08/23/2019] [Accepted: 09/01/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
This study provides a new approach of electrode dependent anaerobic ammonium oxidation (electroanammox) in microbial fuel cell (MFC) integrated hybrid constructed wetlands (CWs). The study was carried out in three CWs, each with a horizontal flow (HF) followed by a vertical upflow (VUF). Two of the CWs were integrated with MFC, one was operated in closed circuit (CL) mode and the other in open circuit (OP) mode to determine the influence of electron transfer through an external electrical circuit. The initial nitrogen and carbon concentration were 40 mg/l and 880 mg/l respectively. The total nitrogen (TN), NH4+-N, TOC and COD removal achieved in CW-MFC-CL were 90.0 ± 1.15%, 94.4 ± 0.75%, 64.8 ± 3.0% and up to 99.5 ± 3.4%, respectively. The TN and NH4+-N removal in CW-MFC-CL was 20.0% and 13.6% higher than normal CW. Maximum current density achieved in CW-MFC-HF was of 75 mA/m3 and in CW-MFC-VUF was 156 mA/m3. Furthermore, the study revealed that even at low microbiological biomass, an MFC integrated CW operating in closed circuit gave higher removal of NH4+-N and COD than the normal CW and open circuit CW-MFC. Microbiological analysis shows the presence of already known nitrifier and denitrifer which indicates their role in electrode dependent nitrogen removal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pratiksha Srivastava
- Australian Maritime College, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Launceston 7248, Australia
| | - Asheesh Kumar Yadav
- Environment and Sustainability Department, CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar 751013, India
| | - Vikram Garaniya
- Australian Maritime College, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Launceston 7248, Australia
| | - Trevor Lewis
- School of Natural Sciences, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Launceston 7250, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Rouzbeh Abbassi
- School of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, NSW, Australia.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Neale PA, Branch A, Khan SJ, Leusch FDL. Evaluating the enantiospecific differences of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) using an ecotoxicity bioassay test battery. Sci Total Environ 2019; 694:133659. [PMID: 31386950 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 07/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants are a major pathway for pharmaceuticals to the aquatic environment. Many pharmaceuticals, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), are chiral chemicals and the biological activity of their enantiomers can differ. Few studies have assessed the effects of different NSAID enantiomers on non-target organisms. However, this information is important for environmental risk assessment to ensure that the effects of more potent enantiomers are not overlooked. In the current study, enantiomers of naproxen, ibuprofen, ketoprofen and flurbiprofen were evaluated in bioassays with bacteria, algae and fish cells. All enantiomers induced bacterial toxicity, with (R)-naproxen more toxic than (S)-naproxen (EC50 0.75 vs 0.93 mg/L) and (S)-flurbiprofen more toxic than (R)-flurbiprofen (EC50 1.22 vs 2.13 mg/L). Both (R)-flurbiprofen and (S)-flurbiprofen induced photosystem II inhibition in green algae, with (R)-flurbiprofen having a greater effect in the assay after 24 h (EC10 5.47 vs 9.07 mg/L). Only the (R)-enantiomers of flurbiprofen and ketoprofen induced ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity in fish cells, while (S)-naproxen was 2.5 times more active than (R)-naproxen in the EROD assay. While enantiospecific differences were observed for all assays, the difference was less than an order of magnitude. This indicates that the risk of overlooking the effect of more potent NSAID enantiomers is minor for the studied test systems and supports the use of racemic (or single enantiomer) effect data for environmental risk assessment. However, further investigation of the (R)-enantiomer of commonly used NSAID ketoprofen is recommended as it was at least six times more potent in the EROD assay than the inactive (S)-ketoprofen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia.
| | - Amos Branch
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
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Leusch FDL, Khan SJ, Deere D, Cunliffe D, Neale PA, Humpage A. Deriving safe short-term chemical exposure values (STEV) for drinking water. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2019; 110:104545. [PMID: 31778715 DOI: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2019.104545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2019] [Revised: 11/17/2019] [Accepted: 11/24/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Small and brief exceedances of chemicals above their guideline values in drinking water are unlikely to cause an appreciable increased risk to human health. As a result, short-term exposure values (STEV) can be derived to help decide whether drinking water can still be supplied to consumers without adverse health risks. In this study, three approaches were applied to calculate and compare STEV for pesticides. The three approaches included basing a STEV on the acute reference dose (ARfD) (Approach 1), removing conventional attribution rates and uncertainty factors from current guideline values (Approach 2) and extrapolating 1 d and 7 d no observed adverse effect levels (NOAEL) from existing toxicity data using a log-linear regression (Approach 3). Despite being very different methods, the three approaches produced comparable STEV generally within an order of magnitude, which often overlapped with other existing short-term exposure values such as short-term no adverse response levels (SNARL) and health advisories (HA). The results show that adjusting the current guideline value using standard extrapolation factors (Approach 2) often produced the most conservative values. Approach 2 was then applied to two other chemical classes, disinfection by-products (DBPs) and cyanotoxins, demonstrating the wider applicability of the approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - David Cunliffe
- Department of Health South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia
| | - Andrew Humpage
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
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32
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Zheng L, Price WE, McDonald J, Khan SJ, Fujioka T, Nghiem LD. New insights into the relationship between draw solution chemistry and trace organic rejection by forward osmosis. J Memb Sci 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2019.117184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Li RA, McDonald JA, Sathasivan A, Khan SJ. Disinfectant residual stability leading to disinfectant decay and by-product formation in drinking water distribution systems: A systematic review. Water Res 2019; 153:335-348. [PMID: 30743084 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Revised: 01/02/2019] [Accepted: 01/04/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Secondary disinfectants, such as chlorine and chloramine, have been widely applied to minimise microbial risks in drinking water during distribution. Key challenges have included the maintenance of stable concentrations of disinfectant residuals and the control of disinfection by-products that may form as a consequence of residual decay processes. Many factors may influence disinfectant residual stability and the consequential formation of by-products. Thus predictions of disinfectant stability and by-product formation are multifactorial problems, complete with numerous complications of parameter co-dependence and feedback amplification of some key parameters. The aim of this review was to derive an understanding of how disinfectant residual stability in drinking water distribution systems is impacted by various influencing factors such as water quality and operational parameters. Factors known to influence disinfectant stability and by-product formation were critically reviewed. A systematic review method was applied to identify 1809 journal articles published in the two decades from January 1998 to December 2017. From the initial screening, 161 papers were selected for detailed assessment. Important factors were identified to include temperature, water age, piping material, corrosion products, pH, hydraulic condition, disinfectant residual type and dosage and microbial activity. Microbial activity is a particularly complex parameter on which to base predictions since many factors are known to influence the degree and nature of such activity. These include temperature, water age, piping material, corrosion products, nutrients, natural organic matter, hydraulic condition and disinfectant residual type and dosage. Disinfectant types and dosages were found to be among the most important factors. Many knowledge gaps and research needs still remain, including the need for a more complete understanding of the factors that influence the production of nitrogenous disinfection by-products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca A Li
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia.
| | - James A McDonald
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia.
| | - Arumugam Sathasivan
- School of Computing Engineering and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney, Kingswood, NSW, 2747, Australia.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia.
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34
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Terechovs AKE, Ansari AJ, McDonald JA, Khan SJ, Hai FI, Knott NA, Zhou J, Nghiem LD. Occurrence and bioconcentration of micropollutants in Silver Perch (Bidyanus bidyanus) in a reclaimed water reservoir. Sci Total Environ 2019; 650:585-593. [PMID: 30205348 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2018] [Revised: 08/30/2018] [Accepted: 08/30/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This study examined the occurrence of 49 micropollutants in reclaimed water and Silver Perch (Bidyanus bidyanus) living in a reclaimed water reservoir. The numbers of micropollutants detected in reclaimed water, Silver Perch liver, and Silver Perch flesh were 20, 23, and 19, respectively. Concentrations of all micropollutants in reclaimed water, except benzotriazole, were well below the Australian Guideline for Recycled Water (AGRW) values for potable purposes. The concentration of benzotriazole in reclaimed water was 675 ± 130 ng/L while the AGRW value for this compound was 7 ng/L. Not all micropollutants detected in the water phase were identified in the Silver Perch flesh and liver tissues. Likewise, not all micropollutants detected in the Silver Perch flesh and liver were identified in the reclaimed water. In general, micropollutant concentrations in the liver were higher than in the flesh. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was detected at a trace level in reclaimed water well below the AGRW guideline value for potable purposes, but showed a high and medium bioconcentration factor in Silver Perch liver and flesh, respectively. In addition, the risk quotient for PFOS was medium and high when considering its concentration in Silver Perch liver and flesh, respectively. Results reported here highlight the need to evaluate multiple parameters for a comprehensive risk assessment. The results also single out PFOS as a notable contaminant of concern for further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley K E Terechovs
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
| | - Ashley J Ansari
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
| | - James A McDonald
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Faisal I Hai
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
| | - Nathan A Knott
- Department of Primary Industry, Huskisson, NSW 2540, Australia.
| | - John Zhou
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
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35
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Ma J, Dai R, Chen M, Khan SJ, Wang Z. Applications of membrane bioreactors for water reclamation: Micropollutant removal, mechanisms and perspectives. Bioresour Technol 2018; 269:532-543. [PMID: 30195697 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.08.121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Revised: 08/28/2018] [Accepted: 08/29/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) have attracted attention in water reclamation as a result of the recent technical advances and cost reduction in membranes. However, the increasing occurrence of micropollutants in wastewaters has posed new challenges. Therefore, we reviewed the current state of research to identify the outstanding needs in this field. In general, the fate of micropollutants in MBRs relates to sorption, biodegradation and membrane separation processes. Hydrophobic, nonionized micropollutants are favorable in sorption, and the biological degradation shows higher efficiency at relatively long SRTs (30-40 days) and HRTs (20-30 h), as a result of co-metabolism, metabolism and/or ion trapping. Although the membrane rejection rates for micropollutants are generally minor, final water quality can be improved via combination with other technologies. This review highlights the challenges and perspectives that should be addressed to facilitate the extended use of MBRs for the removal of micropollutants in water reclamation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinxing Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Safety, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China; UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Ruobin Dai
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Safety, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Mei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Safety, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Zhiwei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Safety, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China.
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Song X, Luo W, McDonald J, Khan SJ, Hai FI, Price WE, Nghiem LD. An anaerobic membrane bioreactor - membrane distillation hybrid system for energy recovery and water reuse: Removal performance of organic carbon, nutrients, and trace organic contaminants. Sci Total Environ 2018; 628-629:358-365. [PMID: 29448020 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2017] [Revised: 02/04/2018] [Accepted: 02/05/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
In this study, a direct contact membrane distillation (MD) unit was integrated with an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) to simultaneously recover energy and produce high quality water for reuse from wastewater. Results show that AnMBR could produce 0.3-0.5L/g CODadded biogas with a stable methane content of approximately 65%. By integrating MD with AnMBR, bulk organic matter and phosphate were almost completely removed. The removal of the 26 selected trace organic contaminants by AnMBR was compound specific, but the MD process could complement AnMBR removal, leading to an overall efficiency from 76% to complete removal by the integrated system. The results also show that, due to complete retention, organic matter (such as humic-like and protein-like substances) and inorganic salts accumulated in the MD feed solution and therefore resulted in significant fouling of the MD unit. As a result, the water flux of the MD process decreased continuously. Nevertheless, membrane pore wetting was not observed throughout the operation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoye Song
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Wenhai Luo
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Farmland Soil Pollution Prevention and Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - James McDonald
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Faisal I Hai
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - William E Price
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
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Phan HV, Wickham R, Xie S, McDonald JA, Khan SJ, Ngo HH, Guo W, Nghiem LD. The fate of trace organic contaminants during anaerobic digestion of primary sludge: A pilot scale study. Bioresour Technol 2018; 256:384-390. [PMID: 29475146 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.02.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2018] [Revised: 02/07/2018] [Accepted: 02/08/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
A pilot-scale study was conducted to investigate the fate of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) during anaerobic digestion of primary sludge. Of the 44 TrOCs monitored, 24 were detected in all primary sludge samples. Phase distribution of TrOCs was correlated well with their hydrophobicity (>67% mass in the solid phase when LogD > 1.5). The pilot-scale anaerobic digester achieved a steady performance with a specific methane yield of 0.39-0.92 L/gVSremoved and methane composition of 63-65% despite considerable variation in the primary sludge. The fate of TrOCs in the aqueous and solid phases was governed by their physicochemical properties. Biotransformation was significant (>83%) for five TrOCs with logD < 1.5 and electron donating functional groups in molecular structure. The remaining TrOCs with logD < 1.5 were persistent and thus accumulated in the aqueous phase. Most TrOCs with logD > 1.5 were poorly removed under anaerobic conditions. Sorption onto the solid phase appears to impede the biodegradation of these TrOCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hop V Phan
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Keiraville NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Richard Wickham
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Keiraville NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Sihuang Xie
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Keiraville NSW 2522, Australia
| | - James A McDonald
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Hao H Ngo
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Wenshan Guo
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia.
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Song X, Luo W, McDonald J, Khan SJ, Hai FI, Guo W, Ngo HH, Nghiem LD. Effects of sulphur on the performance of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor: Biological stability, trace organic contaminant removal, and membrane fouling. Bioresour Technol 2018; 250:171-177. [PMID: 29169091 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.11.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2017] [Revised: 11/07/2017] [Accepted: 11/08/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the impact of sulphur content on the performance of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) with an emphasis on the biological stability, contaminant removal, and membrane fouling. Removal of 38 trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) that are ubiquitously present in municipal wastewater by AnMBR was evaluated. Results show that basic biological performance of AnMBR regarding biomass growth and the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was not affected by sulphur addition when the influent COD/SO42- ratio was maintained higher than 10. Nevertheless, the content of hydrogen sulphate in the produced biogas increased significantly and membrane fouling was exacerbated with sulphur addition. Moreover, the increase in sulphur content considerably affected the removal of some hydrophilic TrOCs and their residuals in the sludge phase during AnMBR operation. By contrast, no significant impact on the removal of hydrophobic TrOCs was noted with sulphur addition to AnMBR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoye Song
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Wenhai Luo
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Farmland Soil Pollution Prevention and Remediation, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - James McDonald
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Faisal I Hai
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Wenshan Guo
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Hao H Ngo
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
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Carvajal G, Branch A, Michel P, Sisson SA, Roser DJ, Drewes JE, Khan SJ. Robust evaluation of performance monitoring options for ozone disinfection in water recycling using Bayesian analysis. Water Res 2017; 124:605-617. [PMID: 28820991 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.07.079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2017] [Revised: 07/27/2017] [Accepted: 07/31/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Ozonation of wastewater has gained popularity because of its effectiveness in removing colour, UV absorbance, trace organic chemicals, and pathogens. Due to the rapid reaction of ozone with organic compounds, dissolved ozone is often not measurable and therefore, the common disinfection controlling parameter, concentration integrated over contact time (CT) cannot be obtained. In such cases, alternative parameters have been shown to be useful as surrogate measures for microbial removal including change in UV254 absorbance (ΔUVA), change in total fluorescence (ΔTF), or O3:TOC (or O3:DOC). Although these measures have shown promise, a number of caveats remain. These include uncertainties in the associations between these measurements and microbial inactivation. Furthermore, previous use of seeded microorganisms with higher disinfection sensitivity compared to autochthonous microorganisms could lead to overestimation of appropriate log credits. In our study, secondary treated wastewater from a full-scale plant was ozonated in a bench-scale reactor using five increasing ozone doses. During the experiments, removal of four indigenous microbial indicators representing viruses, bacteria and protozoa were monitored concurrent with ΔUVA, ΔTF, O3:DOC and PARAFAC derived components. Bayesian methods were used to fit linear regression models, and the uncertainty in the posterior predictive distributions and slopes provided a comparison between previously reported results and those reported here. Combined results indicated that all surrogate parameters were useful in predicting the removal of microorganisms, with a better fit to the models using ΔUVA, ΔTF in most cases. Average adjusted determination coefficients for fitted models were high (R2adjusted>0.47). With ΔUVA, one unit decrease in LRV corresponded with a UVA mean reduction of 15-20% for coliforms, 59% for C. perfringens spores, and 11% for somatic coliphages. With ΔTF, a one unit decrease in LRV corresponded with a TF mean reduction of 18-23% for coliforms, 71% for C. perfringens spores, and 14% for somatic coliphages. Compared to previous studies also analysed, our results suggest that microbial reductions were more conservative for autochthonous than for seeded microorganisms. The findings of our study suggested that site-specific analyses should be conducted to generate models with lower uncertainty and that indigenous microorganisms are useful for the measurement of system performance even when censored observations are obtained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido Carvajal
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Amos Branch
- UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Philipp Michel
- Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany.
| | - Scott A Sisson
- School of Mathematics & Statistics, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - David J Roser
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Jörg E Drewes
- Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
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Nguyen LN, Hai FI, McDonald JA, Khan SJ, Price WE, Nghiem LD. Continuous transformation of chiral pharmaceuticals in enzymatic membrane bioreactors for advanced wastewater treatment. Water Sci Technol 2017; 76:1816-1826. [PMID: 28991796 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2017.331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
This study demonstrates continuous enantiomeric inversion and further biotransformation of chiral profens including ibuprofen, naproxen and ketoprofen by an enzymatic membrane bioreactor (EMBR) dosed with laccase. The EMBR showed non-enantioselective transformations, with high and consistent transformation of both (R)- and (S)-ibuprofen (93 ± 6%, n = 10), but lower removals of both enantiomers of naproxen (46 ± 16%, n = 10) and ketoprofen (48 ± 17%, n = 10). Enantiomeric analysis revealed a bidirectional but uneven inversion of the profens, for example 14% inversion of (R)- to (S)- compared to 4% from (S)- to (R)-naproxen. With redox-mediator addition, the enzymatic chiral inversion of both (R)- and (S)-profens remained unchanged, although the overall conversion became enantioselective; except for (S)-naproxen, the addition of redox mediator promoted the degradation of (R)-profens only.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luong N Nguyen
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia E-mail: ; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue 639798, Singapore
| | - Faisal I Hai
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia E-mail:
| | - James A McDonald
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - William E Price
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia E-mail:
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41
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Carvajal G, Branch A, Sisson SA, Roser DJ, van den Akker B, Monis P, Reeve P, Keegan A, Regel R, Khan SJ. Virus removal by ultrafiltration: Understanding long-term performance change by application of Bayesian analysis. Water Res 2017; 122:269-279. [PMID: 28609730 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.05.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Revised: 05/01/2017] [Accepted: 05/28/2017] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Ultrafiltration is an effective barrier to waterborne pathogens including viruses. Challenge testing is commonly used to test the inherent reliability of such systems. Performance validation seeks to demonstrate the adequate reliability of the treatment system. Appropriate and rigorous data analysis is an essential aspect of validation testing. In this study we used Bayesian analysis to assess the performance of a full-scale ultrafiltration system which was validated and revalidated after five years of operation. A hierarchical Bayesian model was used to analyse a number of similar ultrafiltration membrane skids working in parallel during the two validation periods. This approach enhanced our ability to obtain accurate estimations of performance variability, especially when the sample size of some system skids was limited. This methodology enabled the quantitative estimation of uncertainty in the performance parameters and generation of predictive distributions incorporating those uncertainties. The results indicated that there was a decrease in the mean skid performance after five years of operation of approximately 1 log reduction value (LRV). Interestingly, variability in the LRV also reduced, with standard deviations from the revalidation data being decreased by a mean 0.37 LRV compared with the original validation data. The model was also useful in comparing the operating performance of the various parallel skids within the same year. Evidence of differences was obtained in 2015 for one of the membrane skids. A hierarchical Bayesian analysis of validation data provides robust estimations of performance and the incorporation of probabilistic analysis which is increasingly important for comprehensive quantitative risk assessment purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido Carvajal
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.
| | - Amos Branch
- UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.
| | - Scott A Sisson
- School of Mathematics & Statistics, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.
| | - David J Roser
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.
| | - Ben van den Akker
- Department of Environmental Health, School of Environment, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, 5042, Australia; Australian Water Quality Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia.
| | - Paul Monis
- South Australian Water Corporation, South Australia, 5000, Australia.
| | - Petra Reeve
- South Australian Water Corporation, South Australia, 5000, Australia.
| | - Alexandra Keegan
- South Australian Water Corporation, South Australia, 5000, Australia.
| | - Rudi Regel
- South Australian Water Corporation, South Australia, 5000, Australia.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.
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Semblante GU, Hai FI, McDonald J, Khan SJ, Nelson M, Lee DJ, Price WE, Nghiem LD. Fate of trace organic contaminants in oxic-settling-anoxic (OSA) process applied for biosolids reduction during wastewater treatment. Bioresour Technol 2017; 240:181-191. [PMID: 28286011 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.02.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2016] [Revised: 02/12/2017] [Accepted: 02/14/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the fate of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) in an oxic-settling-anoxic (OSA) process consisting of a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with external aerobic/anoxic and anoxic reactors. OSA did not negatively affect TrOC removal of the SBR. Generally, low TrOC removal was observed under anoxic and low substrate conditions, implicating the role of co-metabolism in TrOC biodegradation. Several TrOCs that were recalcitrant in the SBR (e.g., benzotriazole) were biodegraded in the external aerobic/anoxic reactor. Some hydrophobic TrOCs (e.g., triclosan) were desorbed in the anoxic reactor possibly due to loss of sorption sites through volatile solids destruction. In OSA, the sludge was discharged from the aerobic/anoxic reactor which contained lower concentration of TrOCs (e.g., triclosan and triclocarban) than that of the control aerobic digester, suggesting that OSA can also help to reduce TrOC concentration in residual biosolids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Galilee U Semblante
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Faisal I Hai
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
| | - James McDonald
- Water Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Mark Nelson
- School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Duu-Jong Lee
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - William E Price
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
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Yang S, McDonald J, Hai FI, Price WE, Khan SJ, Nghiem LD. The fate of trace organic contaminants in sewage sludge during recuperative thickening anaerobic digestion. Bioresour Technol 2017; 240:197-206. [PMID: 28233607 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.02.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2016] [Revised: 02/03/2017] [Accepted: 02/04/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this work was to study the fate of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) in sewage sludge during recuperative thickening anaerobic digestion. Sludge shearing at 3142s-1 for 5minutes improved biogas production. By contrast, shearing at ≥6283s-1 for 5minutes caused a notable reduction in biogas production and the removal of volatile solids. Results reported here showed the prevalent occurrence of 17 TrOCs in sewage sludge and highlights the importance of assessing TrOC removal via mass balance calculation by taking into account partitioning between the aqueous and solid phase as well as biodegradation. Hydrophilic and readily-biodegradable TrOCs (caffeine, trimethoprim, and paracetamol) were well removed and were not affected by shearing. TrOCs such as carbamazepine, gemfibrozil, and diuron showed biodegradation only at high shearing. It is possible that shearing can facilitate the circulation of TrOCs between aqueous and solid phases, thus, enhancing the biodegradation of some TrOCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shufan Yang
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Lab, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Australia
| | - James McDonald
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Faisal I Hai
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Lab, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Australia
| | - William E Price
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Lab, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Lab, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Australia.
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44
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Deere D, Leusch FDL, Humpage A, Cunliffe D, Khan SJ. Hypothetical scenario exercises to improve planning and readiness for drinking water quality management during extreme weather events. Water Res 2017; 111:100-108. [PMID: 28063282 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2016.12.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2016] [Revised: 10/31/2016] [Accepted: 12/18/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Two hypothetical scenario exercises were designed and conducted to reflect the increasingly extreme weather-related challenges faced by water utilities as the global climate changes. The first event was based on an extreme flood scenario. The second scenario involved a combination of weather events, including a wild forest fire ('bushfire') followed by runoff due to significant rainfall. For each scenario, a panel of diverse personnel from water utilities and relevant agencies (e.g. health departments) formed a hypothetical water utility and associated regulatory body to manage water quality following the simulated extreme weather event. A larger audience participated by asking questions and contributing key insights. Participants were confronted with unanticipated developments as the simulated scenarios unfolded, introduced by a facilitator. Participants were presented with information that may have challenged their conventional experiences regarding operational procedures in order to identify limitations in current procedures, assumptions, and readily available information. The process worked toward the identification of a list of specific key lessons for each event. At the conclusion of each simulation a facilitated discussion was used to establish key lessons of value to water utilities in preparing them for similar future extreme events.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, QLD, Australia.
| | | | | | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia.
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45
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Carvajal G, Roser DJ, Sisson SA, Keegan A, Khan SJ. Bayesian belief network modelling of chlorine disinfection for human pathogenic viruses in municipal wastewater. Water Res 2017; 109:144-154. [PMID: 27883919 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2016.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2016] [Revised: 10/07/2016] [Accepted: 11/02/2016] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Chlorine disinfection of biologically treated wastewater is practiced in many locations prior to environmental discharge or beneficial reuse. The effectiveness of chlorine disinfection processes may be influenced by several factors, such as pH, temperature, ionic strength, organic carbon concentration, and suspended solids. We investigated the use of Bayesian multilayer perceptron (BMLP) models as efficient and practical tools for compiling and analysing free chlorine and monochloramine virus disinfection performance as a multivariate problem. Corresponding to their relative susceptibility, Adenovirus 2 was used to assess disinfection by monochloramine and Coxsackievirus B5 was used for free chlorine. A BMLP model was constructed to relate key disinfection conditions (CT, pH, turbidity) to observed Log Reduction Values (LRVs) for these viruses at constant temperature. The models proved to be valuable for incorporating uncertainty in the chlor(am)ination performance estimation and interpolating between operating conditions. Various types of queries could be performed with this model including the identification of target CT for a particular combination of LRV, pH and turbidity. Similarly, it was possible to derive achievable LRVs for combinations of CT, pH and turbidity. These queries yielded probability density functions for the target variable reflecting the uncertainty in the model parameters and variability of the input variables. The disinfection efficacy was greatly impacted by pH and to a lesser extent by turbidity for both types of disinfections. Non-linear relationships were observed between pH and target CT, and turbidity and target CT, with compound effects on target CT also evidenced. This work demonstrated that the use of BMLP models had considerable ability to improve the resolution and understanding of the multivariate relationships between operational parameters and disinfection outcomes for wastewater treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido Carvajal
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - David J Roser
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Scott A Sisson
- School of Mathematics & Statistics, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Alexandra Keegan
- Research and Innovation Services, SA Water Corporation, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
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Teo TLL, Coleman HM, Khan SJ. Presence and select determinants of organophosphate flame retardants in public swimming pools. Sci Total Environ 2016; 569-570:469-475. [PMID: 27355519 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2016] [Revised: 05/27/2016] [Accepted: 06/13/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The occurrence of five organophosphate flame retardants (PFRs) consisting of tributyl phosphate (TNBP), tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCIPP), tris(1.3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) and triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) in swimming pools were investigated. Fifteen chlorinated public swimming pools were sampled, including indoor pools, outdoor pools and spa pools. The analyses were carried out using isotope dilution gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. All five PFRs were detected in swimming pool waters with concentrations ranging from 5-27ng/L (TNBP), 7-293ng/L (TCEP), 62-1180ng/L (TCIPP), 10-670ng/L (TDCIPP) and 8-132ng/L (TPHP). The concentrations of PFRs were generally higher in indoor swimming pools compared to outdoor swimming pools. In municipal water supplies, used to fill the swimming pools in three of the sampling locations, the five PFRs were all below the limit of quantifications, eliminating this as the source. Potential leaching of PFRs from commonly used swimming equipment, including newly purchased kickboards and swimsuits was investigated. These experiments revealed that PFRs leached from swimsuits, and may be a source of PFRs in swimming pools. A quantitative risk assessment revealed that the health risk to PFRs via swimming pools was generally low and below commonly applied health risk benchmarks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany L L Teo
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Heather M Coleman
- Nanotechnology and Integrated BioEngineering Centre, School of Engineering, University of Ulster, Jordanstown, County Antrim BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington NSW 2052, Australia.
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Song X, McDonald J, Price WE, Khan SJ, Hai FI, Ngo HH, Guo W, Nghiem LD. Effects of salinity build-up on the performance of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor regarding basic water quality parameters and removal of trace organic contaminants. Bioresour Technol 2016; 216:399-405. [PMID: 27262094 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.05.075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2016] [Revised: 05/14/2016] [Accepted: 05/19/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The effects of elevated inorganic salt concentration on anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) treatment regarding basic biological performance and trace organic contaminant (TrOC) removal were investigated. A set of 33 TrOCs were selected to represent pharmaceuticals, steroids, and pesticides in municipal wastewater. Results show potential adverse effects of increase in the bioreactor salinity to 15g/L (as NaCl) on the performance of AnMBR with respect to chemical oxygen demand removal, biogas production, and the removal of most hydrophilic TrOCs. Furthermore, a decrease in biomass production was observed as salinity in the bioreactor increased. The removal of most hydrophobic TrOCs was high and was not significantly affected by salinity build-up in the bioreactor. The accumulation of a few persistent TrOCs in the sludge phase was observed, but such accumulation did not vary significantly as salinity in the bioreactor increased.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoye Song
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - James McDonald
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - William E Price
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Faisal I Hai
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Hao H Ngo
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Wenshan Guo
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
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Yang S, Hai FI, Price WE, McDonald J, Khan SJ, Nghiem LD. Occurrence of trace organic contaminants in wastewater sludge and their removals by anaerobic digestion. Bioresour Technol 2016; 210:153-159. [PMID: 26795886 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.12.080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2015] [Revised: 12/24/2015] [Accepted: 12/28/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
This study aims to evaluate the occurrence of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) in wastewater sludge and their removal during anaerobic digestion. The significant occurrence of 18 TrOCs in primary sludge was observed. These TrOCs occurred predominantly in the solid phase. Some of these TrOCs (e.g. paracetamol, caffeine, ibuprofen and triclosan) were also found at high concentrations (>10,000ng/L) in the aqueous phase. The overall removal of TrOCs (from both the aqueous and solid phase) by anaerobic digestion was governed by their molecular structure (e.g. the presence/absence of electron withdrawing/donating functional groups). While an increase in sludge retention time (SRT) of the digester resulted in a small but clearly discernible increase in basic biological performance (e.g. volatile solids removal and biogas production), the impact of SRT on TrOC removal was negligible. The lack of SRT influence on TrOC removal suggests that TrOCs were not the main substrate for anaerobic digestion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shufan Yang
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Lab, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Faisal I Hai
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Lab, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - William E Price
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Lab, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - James McDonald
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Lab, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
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Trinh T, van den Akker B, Coleman HM, Stuetz RM, Drewes JE, Le-Clech P, Khan SJ. Seasonal variations in fate and removal of trace organic chemical contaminants while operating a full-scale membrane bioreactor. Sci Total Environ 2016; 550:176-183. [PMID: 26815294 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2015] [Revised: 12/18/2015] [Accepted: 12/18/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Trace organic chemical (TrOC) contaminants are of concern for finished water from water recycling schemes because of their potential adverse environmental and public health effects. Understanding the impacts of seasonal variations on fate and removal of TrOCs is important for proper operation, risk assessment and management of treatment systems for water recycling such as membrane bioreactors (MBRs). Accordingly, this study investigated the fate and removal of a wide range of TrOCs through a full-scale MBR plant during summer and winter seasons. TrOCs included 12 steroidal hormones, 3 xeno-estrogens, 2 pesticides and 23 pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Seasonal differences in the mechanisms responsible for removing some of the TrOCs were evident. In particular the contribution of biotransformation and biomass adsorption to the overall removal of estrone, bisphenol A, 17β-estradiol and triclosan were consistently different between the two seasons. Substantially higher percentage removal via biotransformation was observed during the summer sampling period, which compensated for a reduction in removal attributed to biomass adsorption. The opposite was observed during winter, where the contribution of biotransformation to the overall removal of these TrOCs had decreased, which was offset by an improvement in biomass adsorption. The exact mechanisms responsible for this shift are unknown, however are likely to be temperature related as warmer temperatures can lower sorption efficiency, yet enhance biotransformation of these TrOCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trang Trinh
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia; UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia
| | - Ben van den Akker
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia
| | - Heather M Coleman
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia; Nanotechnology and Integrated Bioengineering Centre, University of Ulster, Jordanstown, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
| | - Richard M Stuetz
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia
| | - Jörg E Drewes
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia; Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Garching/München, Germany
| | - Pierre Le-Clech
- UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia
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Teo TLL, Coleman HM, Khan SJ. Occurrence and daily variability of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in swimming pools. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2016; 23:6972-6981. [PMID: 26705754 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-015-5967-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2015] [Accepted: 12/10/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this research was to investigate the presence and daily variability of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in public swimming pools. Various types of public swimming pool water were analysed, taken from freshwater indoor swimming pools, outdoor swimming pools, spa pools and seawater swimming pools. Swimming pool water samples were analysed for 30 PPCPs using solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). All PPCPs were below quantification limits in seawater pools. However, caffeine was detected in 12 chlorinated swimming pools at concentrations up to 1540 ng/L and ibuprofen was observed in 7 chlorinated pools at concentrations up to 83 ng/L. Caffeine and ibuprofen concentrations were below quantification limits in all fill water samples, eliminating this as their source in swimming pools. High variations in caffeine concentrations monitored throughout the day roughly reflect bather loads in swimming pools. Future monitoring of these compounds may assist in evaluating what portion of organic matter measured in swimming pools may come from human excretions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany L L Teo
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Heather M Coleman
- Nanotechnology and Integrated BioEngineering Centre, School of Engineering, University of Ulster, Jordanstown, County Antrim, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland, UK
| | - Stuart J Khan
- UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2052, Australia.
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