Themed collection Best Papers 2022 – Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology

Recent research on antimicrobial resistance in the environment has emphasized targeted methods. Increased use of non-targeted methods is needed to determine how frequently novel resistance genes arise.

By incorporating antifragility, water systems may move beyond resilience and improve performance with extreme events.

Photocatalytic membrane reactors (PMRs) can degrade organic compounds in wastewater and in water from different real matrices. The PMR surface can be modified for anti-fouling/self-cleaning properties, enabling reuse and extending lifespan.

This review systematically summarizes the application of magnetic composite adsorbents for the removal of heavy metal ions in water and focuses on the surface functionalization of magnetic materials.

Mechanisms of photodegradation of PFAS with different chain lengths and structures using a wide range of photo-oxidative/reductive agents, effects of key parameters on these processes, and synergistic effects of other treatments are reviewed.

The source, composition and impacts of impurities on electroplating wastewater treatment are discussed to achieve higher recovery of metals and water.

This paper reviewed the properties and relationship of reactive oxygen species and anions in persulfate-based advanced oxidation processes for saline organic wastewater treatment.

The research progress of electrochemical treatment of organic matter and ammonia nitrogen in wastewater is reviewed in this work.

The Bac-LAMP assay enables the specific detection of human faecal contamination in water in the field by a non-expert technician.

Suwannee river natural organic matter greatly increased dissolved lead release from galvanic corrosion due to complexation with humic acid-like substances.

The influence of WWTP treatment standard on contaminant breakthrough is explored for 293 compounds.

Recent applications of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) have demonstrated its ability to track the spread and dynamics of COVID-19 at the community level.

Stochastic risk and attenuation modeling approaches predict problematic ecological risks of effluent-derived pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern in an effluent-dominated stream under all-flow conditions.

Biochar amendments to conventional sand filters can remove hydrophilic trace organic contaminants from urban stormwater and are, therefore, a good barrier to protect the aquatic environment.

Effective Fenton degradation of tetracycline over magnetite nanoclusters supported on reduced graphene oxide was observed.

SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in New York City were significantly correlated with clinical case rates in corresponding sewersheds.

SARS-CoV-2 community wastewater surveillance across a range of scales to establish optimal sampling strategies.

The metal–organic framework (MOF) zinc imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) is synthesized by a solvothermal method and added into a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane to study its pollutant removal performance using pulp and paper industry wastewater.

Absorbance-based sensors produce large raw attenuation datasets. We developed AbspectroscoPY, an open-source Python toolbox to implement semi-automated processing of these data and explore the full potential of high-frequency measurements.

We compared SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in primary settled solids and raw wastewater samples matched in date to investigate the relationship between the two matrices.

Novel linear free energy relationships were determined between experimentally measured rate constants of solvated electrons and theoretically calculated one electron reduction potential for the elucidation of reductive reaction mechanisms.

Application of plasma oxidation for removal of pharmaceuticals in urine was assessed and compared to a traditional advanced oxidation process.

Bisphenol A could also be degraded effectively by the UV/nitrate system.

Ammonia is a critical compound due to the numerous industry products which rely on its production such as fertilizer, refrigerant gas, and textile manufacturing.

Waste streams continuously introduce active and inactive microbial populations that can influence assembly of microbial communities in chain elongation systems.

A novel algae control strategy in oligotrophic surface water was proposed. Under the combined effect of nutritional competition and bacilysin lysis, a 97% decline in chlorophyll-a content was achieved in South-to-North water and 61.5% in stormwater.

The discrepancy between the proportion of hydroxyl and sulfate radicals involved in the PS/N-SWCNTs and PS–heat systems led to different distributions and abundance of products.

Various bimetallic nZVI were used in the degradation of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOC) in spiked water and real groundwater. It was found that Ni may be a good alternative to Pd to be used along with nZVI for dechlorination of CVOC.

Cobalt nanoparticle–carbon nanoplate as the solar absorber of a wood aerogel evaporator for efficient solar steam generation.

Constructed wetland effluents meet water reuse standards after efficient electrochemical disinfection, and residual chlorine restricts pathogen regrowth. Chloride electromigration through anion exchange membranes (AEMs) maximized chlorine production.

Herein, carbon felt (CF) modified with N and Co (Co–N@CF) was prepared as an anode to effectively activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for tetracycline (TC) removal.

We demonstrate the application of a rapid pre-concentration protocol and a magnetic bead-based RNA extraction method for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from raw wastewater without the need for extensive sample treatment.

This study evaluated a passive sampling and rapid LAMP detection of SARS-CoV-2 for near-source (i.e., building-level) wastewater based epidemiology applications.