Still open research questions on technologies, microplastics, and antibiotic resistance
Abstract
Abstract In this final chapter, a summary of the still open questions to be solved for the scale-up of the technologies described in the previous chapters (including post-treatment options), for application in cold and temperate climate areas is provided. Special attention is dedicated to upflow anaerobic sludge blanket and anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs), which are, even if with different peculiarities, the most promising solutions. In addition to anaerobic mainstream treatment technologies, recent research demand focuses also on two important emerging topics, which are of interest not only for anaerobic wastewater treatment, but also for conventional activated sludge plants, that is, the fate of microplastics (MPs) in plants and in receiving water bodies and the antibiotic resistance spreading. For these two topics, which were not analyzed in detail in the previous chapters, we propose in this chapter a general presentation of the state of knowledge in relation to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with particular focus on anaerobic systems and related research needs. Concerning MPs, in spite they are recognized as ubiquitous pollutants, there is a strong research demand on the standardization of sampling and analytical protocols and on powerful technologies able to improve their removal. Even though information about the fate and effect of MPs in WWTPs with anaerobic treatments is scarce, AnMBRs have demonstrated high removal rates, which suggest them as a…
Read the paper
Related studies
- Green Chemistry: A Framework for a Sustainable Future
- Nano/micro-plastic, an invisible threat getting into the brain
- Emerging contaminants antibiotic resistance genes and microplastics in the environment: Introduction to 21 review articles published in CREST during 2018–2022
- Water Resources and Sustainable Development
- Nano- and microplastics in the workplace
- Water Enclosure and World-Literature: New Perspectives on Hydro-Power and World-Ecology
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.