To understand the diversity and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in pharmaceutical wastewater treatment bioreactors, the ARGs in sludge from two full-scale pharmaceutical wastewater treatment plants (PWWTPs) were investigated and compared with sludge samples from three sewage treatment plants (STPs) using metagenomic approach. The results showed that the ARG abundances in PWWTP s...

The following sludge reduction alternatives were tested in wastewater biological reactors: oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA-process); ultrasonic disintegration (UD); chlorination (CH); 3,3',4',5tetrachlorosalicylanilide (TCS); and folic acid (FA). Compared to the control system, UD reduced 55% of the sludge production, and greater substrate and nutrient removal efficiency was achieved. CH worsened ...

Sludge minimization by thermal treatment within activated sludge process was investigated at pilot scale. A 90°C treatment was set up in the return activated sludge loop. When keeping apparent sludge age at 15 days, 90°C treatment decreased sludge production by 30.4%. However, effluent quality was altered. A sludge minimization ASM1 based model was set up and calibrated against experimental dat...

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play important roles in regulating the dewaterability of sludge. This study sought to elucidate the influence of EPS on the dewaterability of sludge during bioleaching process. Results showed that, in bioleaching system with the co-inoculation of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans TS6 and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans LX5 (A. t+A. f system), the capillary su...

BACKGROUND Biliary sludge is associated with gallbladder (GB) dysmotility and mucus hypersecretion suggesting a link between biliary sludge and the formation of GB mucoceles (GBM). If biliary sludge progresses to GBM, treatment to reduce the production and progression of sludge is warranted. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to determine the course of biliary sludge in dog...

This study evaluates the application of an anoxic side-stream reactor in the sludge return line of a conventional activated sludge system for the reduction of biomass production. The oxidation-reduction potential was maintained at -150 mV while the applied sludge loading rate was modified by changing the percentage of return sludge treated in this reactor. The observed yield from the convention...

A 2-year sampling campaign was conducted in three wastewater treatment plants of various sizes in the Rome area to assess the occurrence of nutrients and micropollutants among primary, secondary and digested sludge. The primary purpose was to evaluate the quality of different sludge types and their suitability for agricultural use. Primary sludge was consistently more polluted than secondary in...

Some amounts of inert products are given into environment due to biological degradation of substrate in activated sludge system. The effluent of biological wastewater treatment consists of inert substrate in influent flow, soluble microbial products and non degradable or slowly degradable organic products. Soluble inert COD (SI) must be determined for discharge standards since it did not give a...

Several industrial processes produce large amounts of heavy metals-rich wastes, which could be considered as “trash-can raw materials”. The incorporation in ceramic systems can be regarded as a key process to permanently incorporate hazardous heavy metals in stable matrixes. In particular the aim of this work is to prepare and evaluate environmental risk assessment of coloured glass and glass-c...