Municipal and industrial wastewaters contain a wide spectrum of pollutants. Their effective removal presents a challenge for water treatment technology. Biosorption of nutrients and pollutants has been used in sewage treatment since the discovery of the activated sludge process. It is a passive uptake process by which pollutants are adsorbed on the surface of cell walls and/or dissolved in structures of microorganism cells that are present in sludge. Sorbed pollutants remain in the sludge and can be potentially released back into the environment depending on their condition and the reversibility of the pollutant-sludge interaction. An overview of typical biosorption applications for the removal of nutrients, organic pollutants, and metals in wastewater treatment is provided in different areas of their use for the protection of aquatic ecosystems and human health. This book will be of interest to operators of wastewater treatment plants and sludge treatment and disposal facilities as well as to researchers and university students in the field of environmental engineering.

New Trends in Removal of Heavy Metals from Industrial Wastewater covers the applicable technologies relating to the removal of heavy metals from wastewater and new and emerging trends in the field, both at the laboratory and industrial scale. Sections explore new environmentally friendly technologies, the principles of sustainable development, the main factors contributing to heavy metal removal from wastewater, methods and procedures, materials (especially low-cost materials originated from industrial and agricultural waste), management of wastewater containing heavy metals and wastewater valorization, recycling, environmental impact, and wastewater policies for post heavy metal removal. This book is an advanced and updated vision of existing heavy metal removal technologies with their limitations and challenges and their potential application to remove heavy metals/environmental pollutants through advancements in bioremediation. Finally, sections also cover new trends and advances in environmental bioremediation with recent developments in this field by an application of chemical/biochemical and environmental biotechnology. - Outlines the fate and occurrence of heavy metals in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) and potential approaches for their removal - Describes the techniques currently available for removing heavy metals from wastewater - Discusses the emerging technologies in heavy metal removal - Covers biological treatments to remove heavy metals - Includes the valorization of heavy metal containing wastewater

This state-of-the-art volume represents the first comprehensively written book which focuses on the new field of biosorption. This fascinating work conveys essential fundamental information and outlines the perspectives of biosorption. It summarizes the metal-sorbing properties of nonliving bacterial, fungal, and algal biomass, plus highlights relevant metal-binding mechanisms. This volume also discusses the aspects of obtaining and processing microbial biomass and metal-chelating chemicals into industrially applicable biosorbent products. Microbiologists, chemists, and engineers with an interest in new technological and scientific horizons will find this reference indispensable.

Heavy metals always pose serious ecological risks when released into the environment due to their elemental non-degradable nature, regardless of their chemical form. This calls for the development of efficient and low-cost effluent treatment and metal recuperation technologies for contaminated waste water, not only because regulatory limits need to be met but also because the waste itself can be a resource for certain precious metals. Biosorption is a general property of living and dead biomass to rapidly bind and abiotically concentrate inorganic or organic compounds from even very diluted aqueous solutions. As a specific term, biosorption is a method that utilizes materials of biological origin – biosorbents formulated from non-living biomass - for the removal of target substances from aqueous solutions. Recent research on biosorption provides a solid understanding of the mechanism underlying microbial biosorption of heavy metals and related elements. This book gathers review articles analyzing current views on the mechanism and (bio)chemistry of biosorption, the performance of bacterial, fungal and algal biomass, and the practical aspects of biosorbent preparation and engineering. It also reviews the physico-chemical evaluations of biosorbents and modelling of the process as well as the importance of biosorption during heavy metal removal using living cells. It is a reference work for scientists, environmental safety engineers and R&D specialists who wish to further promote biosorption research and use the accumulated knowledge to develop and build industrial applications of biosorption in heavy metal separation technologies.

Metals can be dispersed, both naturally and by man's activities, into any of the Earth's elements - soil, water or air. Biological techniques for removing metal pollutants from soil, air or water are now attracting great interest, both because they are seen as more environmentally friendly than chemical treatments, and because, in some cases at lea

Persistent and non-degradable, heavy metals stand as pollutants with the potential for severe ecological repercussions when released into the environment. Municipal and industrial wastewater face a high risk of contamination by these hazardous substances, posing a formidable challenge to water treatment technologies. The imperative is clear: effective and affordable methods for effluent treatment and metal recovery are essential for meeting regulatory standards and unlocking the latent value of valuable metals within the waste. However, new methods of accomplishing this challenge are necessary for increasing the effectiveness in both cost and application Biosorption Processes for Heavy Metal Removal comprehensively explores the imperative to remove heavy metals from waste streams. It provides an insightful overview of biosorbents and biosorption technology, focusing on their underlying biosorption features. The compilation within this book comprises of a series of review articles delving into the current understanding of biosorption mechanisms and biochemistry, the efficacy of bacterial, fungal, and algal biomass, and practical considerations for biosorbent preparation and engineering. The physicochemical evaluations of biosorbents, process optimization, and factors influencing biosorption efficiency are also covered. Furthermore, the book explores biosorption applications for removing nutrients, organic pollutants, and metals in wastewater treatment across diverse contexts. Geared towards administrators, policymakers, consultants, industry professionals, academicians, scientists, researchers, and graduate and post-graduate students in environmental sciences and related fields, this book serves as their comprehensive reference.

Microbial Ecology of Wastewater Treatment Plants presents different methods and techniques used in microbial ecology to study the interactions and evolution of microbial populations in WWTPs, particularly the new molecular tools developed in the last decades. These molecular biology-based methods (e.g. studies of DNA, RNA and proteins) provide a high resolution of information compared to traditional ways of studying microbial wastewater populations, such as microscopic examination and culture-based methods. In addition, this book addresses the ability of microorganisms to degrade environmental pollutants. - Describes application of different Omics tools in Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) - Demonstrates the role of microorganisms in WWTPs - Includes discussions on the microbial ecology of WWTPs - Covers the microbial diversity of activated sludge - Emphasizes cutting-edge molecular tools

Pollution due to various anthropogenic activities continues to increase. In terms of water pollutants, organic and inorganic pollutants are the most problematic. Although several measures have been proposed and implemented to prevent or reduce contamination, their increased concentration in water bodies has created serious concerns. Over the years, the problem has been aggravated by industrialization, urbanization and the exploitation of natural resources. The direct discharge of wastewater contaminants and their geographical mobilization have caused an increase in concentration in ground, surface, fluvial and residual waters. Extensive information about detection and disposal methods is needed in order to develop technological solutions for a ­variety of environments, both urban and rural. This book provides up-to-date information on wastewater contaminants, aimed at researchers, engineers and technologists working in this field. Conventional physicochemical techniques used to remove contaminants from wastewater include ion exchange, precipitation, degradation, coagulation, coating, membrane processes and adsorption. However, these applications have technological and economic limitations, and involve the release of large amounts of chemical reagents and by-products that are themselves difficult to remove. Biosorption - the use of organically generated material as an adsorbent – is attracting new research and scholarship. Thermally-treated calcined biomaterials may be treated to remove heavy metals from wastewater. To ensure the elimination of these contaminants, existing solutions must be integrated with intelligent biosorption functions. Biosorption for Wastewater Contaminants will find an appreciative audience among academics and postgraduates working in the fields of environmental biotechnology, environmental engineering, wastewater treatment technology and environmental chemistry.

Fundamental societal changes resulted from the necessity of people to get organized in mining, transporting, processing, and circulating the heavy metals and their follow-up products, which in consequence resulted in a differentiation of society into diversified professions and even societal strata. Heavy metals are highly demanded technological materials, which drive welfare and progress of the human society, and often play essential metabolic roles. However, their eminent toxicity challenges the field of chemistry, physics, engineering, cleaner production, electronics, metabolomics, botany, biotechnology, and microbiology in an interdisciplinary and cross-sectorial manner. Today, all these scientific disciplines are called to dedicate their efforts in a synergistic way to avoid exposure of heavy metals into the eco- and biosphere, to reliably monitor and quantify heavy metal contamination, and to foster the development of novel strategies to remediate damage caused by heavy metals.

This book covers the principles, underlying mechanisms, thermodynamic functions, kinetics and modeling aspects of sustainable technologies, particularly from the standpoint of applying physical, chemical and biological processes for the treatment of wastewater polluted with heavy metals. Particular emphasis has been given to technologies that are based on adsorption, electro-coagulation, bio-precipitation, bio-solubilization, phytoremediation and microbial electrolysis. Metal contamination in the environment is one of the persisting global issues. The adverse health effects of heavy metals on human beings and its impact on the environment has been well-documented. Several physico-chemical and biological technologies have been successfully implemented to prevent and control the discharge of industrial heavy metal emissions. On the contrary, metal resource depletion has also accelerated dramatically during the 20th century due to rapid advances in industrial engineering and medical sciences, which requires large amount of raw materials. To meet the global metal demand, in recent years, novel research lines have started to focus on the recovery of metals from metal contaminated waste streams. In order to conflate both metal removal and recovery, new technologies have been successfully tested, both at the lab and pilot-scale. The target audience of this book primarily comprises of research experts, practicing engineers in the field of environmental/chemical technology and graduate students.