Escaping historical lock-in─redesigning wastewater treatment plants and their microbiomes for the 21st century
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have gradually, over the last hundred years, been designed and extended to deal with a sequence of problems, including a) odor, b) suspended solids, c) organics, d) ammonia, e) nitrate and phosphate, and f) recalcitrant pollutants. The line of historical developments was piecemeal rather than holistic and did not focus on sustainability, resource recovery, and water reuse. On the contrary, microbial processes that accelerated the removal of nitrogen were incorporated and heralded as a positive part of the “cleanup” agenda, despite their relatively large energy consumption and substantial production of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. The time has come to examine the historical, technological, and microbiological lock-in present in today’s WWTPs, so that a more coherent integrated system can be developed for future generations. Some disruptive strategies are outlined, and a categorization of processes in terms of their potential for the future is formulated.
Date Issued
2025-07-29
Date Acceptance
2025-06-30
Citation
Environmental Science and Technology (Washington), 2025, 59 (29), pp.14862-14869
ISSN
0013-936X
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
14862
End Page
14869
Journal / Book Title
Environmental Science and Technology (Washington)
Volume
59
Issue
29
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This publication is licensed under CC-BY 4.0 .
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40662685
Subjects
WWTP
machine learning
microbiome
optimization
portable water
resource recovery
wastewater
Wastewater
Microbiota
Water Purification
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2025-07-15