The presence of a wide variety of emerging pollutants in natural water resources is an important global water quality challenge. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are known as ...emerging contaminants, widely used by modern society. This objective ensures availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, according to the 2030 Agenda. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) do not always mitigate the presence of these emerging contaminants in effluents discharged into the environment, although the removal efficiency of WWTP varies based on the techniques used. This main subject is framed within a broader environmental paradigm, such as the transition to a circular economy. The research and innovation within the WWTP will play a key role in improving the water resource management and its surrounding industrial and natural ecosystems. Even though bioremediation is a green technology, its integration into the bio-economy strategy, which improves the quality of the environment, is surprisingly rare if we compare to other corrective techniques (physical and chemical). This work carries out a bibliographic review, since the beginning of the 21st century, on the biological remediation of some PPCPs, focusing on organisms (or their by-products) used at the scale of laboratory or scale-up. PPCPs have been selected on the basics of their occurrence in water resources. The data reveal that, despite the advantages that are associated with bioremediation, it is not the first option in the case of the recovery of systems contaminated with PPCPs. The results also show that fungi and bacteria are the most frequently studied microorganisms, with the latter being more easily implanted in complex biotechnological systems (78% of bacterial manuscripts vs. 40% fungi). A total of 52 works has been published while using microalgae and only in 7% of them, these organisms were used on a large scale. Special emphasis is made on the advantages that are provided by biotechnological systems in series, as well as on the need for eco-toxicological control that is associated with any process of recovery of contaminated systems.
In accordance with priorities of sustainable development in Serbia, production and use of biomass is crucial for provision of annually renewable national sources of energy and for environmental ...quality conservation. Rural development has typically focused on improving agricultural production and promoting market orientation, however, as the examples of other countries in the EU accession process have shown (e.g. Slovakia), such an approach could threaten the survival of rural population. Biomass production is one of the key sectors with significant potential for diversification of rural economy. The results of multiannual research work supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia through national scientific projects and several international initiatives are summarized in this paper. The research activities focus on Miscanthus × giganteus Greef et Deu. The production potentials of miscanthus on fertile and degraded soils were investigated since 2009 in experimental plots established on moderate and extremely degraded lands in Serbia, applying various agrotechnical measures in different ecological conditions. The results show that fertile agricultural land as well as moderate degraded areas provide suitable conditions for miscanthus biomass and viable rhizomes production for energy and ecoremediation purposes
The problem of accelerated eutrophication of the water ecosystems has not been appreciated proportionally to the development of human society today. Accelerated or fast eutrophication is detected ...destiny in majority of ecosystems today, mainly due to adverse human impact. This paper aims to introduce ERM methods in treating the problems arising from increased total capacity and saprobity and also accelerated eutrophication. In this way the broadness and importance of ERM as an ecosystem service for the water protection should be emphasized. The basic characteristics of ERM are its high buffer and self-protective capacities, and preservation of natural habitats and biological diversity. ERM represents the ‘returning to nature’ approach aiming to preserve or re-establish the natural balance of the ecosystems, but also a human endeavor that enables new jobs and by-side activities important for economic and social development of the human society.
Landscape lakes in the city suffer high eutrophication risk because of their special characters and functions in the water circulation system. Using a landscape lake HMLA located in Tianjin City, ...North China, with a mixture of point source (PS) pollution and non-point source (NPS) pollution, we explored the methodology of Fluent and AQUATOX to simulate and predict the state of HMLA, and trophic index was used to assess the eutrophication state. Then, we use water compensation optimization and three scenarios to determine the optimal management methodology. Three scenarios include ecological restoration scenario, best management practices (BMPs) scenario, and a scenario combining both. Our results suggest that the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem with ecoremediation is necessary and the BMPs have a far-reaching effect on water reusing and NPS pollution control. This study has implications for eutrophication control and management under development for urbanization in China.
This paper deals with the consequences of cultural eutrophication and unconventional solutions for shallow lake restoration. Cultural eutrophication is the primary problem that affects especially ...shallow lakes, due to their physical characteristics (e.g. shallow depth, lack of stratification). Palic Lake, a very shallow Pannonian lake, received treated municipal wastewaters coming from the lagoons of a wastewater treatment plant. The sewage discharge mainly increased the nutrient load to the lake in the last decades. The lake sustainability is affected by inappropriate quality of water that flows into the lake, and abundance of deposited sediment. The technology that can provide both improvement of water quality and resolution of the sediment problem is a constructed wetland, which is designed to utilise the natural processes involving wetland vegetation, soil and their associated microbial assemblages to assist in additional water treatment. The technical solution is based on three key aspects: quality and quantity of deposited sediment, enriched by nutrients; effluent quality; desired lake water quality. A designed constructed wetland can accomplish the desired water quality and gradually remediate deposited sediment.
Ecoremediation (ERM) comprises methods of protection or restoration of the environment by means of natural processes existing in ecosystems. The establishment of ERM systems provides sustainable ...environmental management solutions that contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and pollution reduction, increase the quality of water and soil, and can be applied in protected and sensitive areas. The functions of ERM are based on aquatic, waterside, and wetland ecosystems, and are characterized by high retention capacity, flooding prevention, and reduction of specific physical, chemical, and toxic pollution. This chapter reviews the operational performance of ERM in Slovenia, including constructed wetlands for sewage, landfill leachate, industrial wastewater, drinking water, highway runoff, ponds/wetlands, vegetated drainage ditches for agricultural runoff, landfill restoration, and river revitalization. A further aim of the ERM concept is to promote the idea of unifying different kinds of ‘‘green technologies’’ that are based on nature’s self-cleaning mechanisms, enhanced by the latest scientific developments, in the search for sustainable solutions that do not rely on the passive role of nature, but look to nature in building sustainable models through an understanding of human–environmental relations.
Through analysis of the size-fractionated chlorophyll-a contents in the remedied part, control part and non-remedied part in Suining Tributary, this paper discussed the effect of bioremediation to ...all size-fractionated chlorophyll-a contents. The averaged Chlorophy-a content of nano-plus pico-phytoplankton made up 85.232%, 92.402%, 95.205% of the total, respectively for the remedied, control and non-remedied part. Among these, the nano fraction alone made up 78.460%, 87.943%, 87.211%, respectively. Nano-phytoplankton contributed most to the total biomass of Chl a. Its average contribution was 84.538% to the whole tributary, whereas net-phytoplankton contribued only 9.054%. Nano- and pico-phytoplankton was most sensitive to the test eco-remedy. The remedy reduced the relative biomass of net-phytoplankton, and increased the relative biomass of Pico-enhance. The relative biomass of nano- and ultra-phytoplankton fraction was little effected.
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