Identifying potential bacterial pathogens in wastewater by expert reliability analysis of full-length 16S rRNA and untargeted RNA sequencing data processed with four bioinformatic workflows.

Municipal wastewater may serve as a critical community-composite sample for monitoring bacteria excreted by the contributing population, providing insights into public health risks and microbial diversity. The present study emphasizes the integration of DNA (full-length 16S rRNA) methods, untargeted RNA methods, and different bioinformatic protocols to identify potential human bacterial pathogens in wastewater. Results revealed that, DNA surveillance identified roughly 50 % of the sequencing reads were associated with potentially pathogenic bacteria, as compared to RNA surveillance, which identified roughly 33 % of the reads as associated with potential bacterial pathogens.

A comparative evaluation of performic acid, peracetic acid, and sodium hypochlorite for bacterial disinfection of secondary effluent.

Chlorine-based disinfectants are often used to achieve the required microbiological effluent limits and to ensure appropriate public health protection against waterborne pathogens; however, they can produce potentially harmful disinfection by-products and negatively affect the ecosystem of effluent receiving bodies. Peracetic Acid (PAA) and Performic Acid (PFA) are emerging as promising disinfectants in water treatment due to their effectiveness against a wide spectrum of microbes and minimal environmental impact, addressing some of the limitations associated with traditional chlorine-based disinfectants. In present work, we present and analyze the secondary effluent wastewater bench test results for demand, decay, and microbial inactivation kinetics of PAA, PFA, and sodium hypochlorite (SH) from six North American water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) using an advanced fitting method based on uncertainty ellipses.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in untreated and treated sludge/biosolids from 27 water resource recovery facilities across the United States and Canada.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are being studied in all environmental matrices because of their ubiquitous presence and adverse human health impacts. This study conducted a surveillance of 27 water resource recovery facilities throughout the United States and Canada to screen the range of PFAS concentrations in pre-stabilized sludge and post-stabilized product. Among the 27 water resource recovery facilities, 82% use anaerobic digestion and the rest use chemical stabilization and/or incineration for sludge stabilization.

Development of a process model and life cycle assessment for a large water resource recovery facility and comparison of biosolids process upgrade options.

Life cycle assessment (LCA), coupled with process modeling to develop the life cycle inventory, is a valuable tool to assess differences in environmental performance when evaluating alternatives based on sustainability (triple-bottom-line) principles. Coupled with a whole plant process model (SUMO21), an LCA assessed the environmental performance of options to upgrade biosolids management for the Great Lakes Water Authority water resource recovery facility. All five alternatives evaluated (composting plus four anaerobic digestion alternatives) were able to meet the core objectives of the biosolids management system upgrade: (1) address ageing incinerators, (2) minimize the mass of biosolids landfilled, and (3) reduce greenhouse gas emissions, compared to the existing (baseline) system.

Surveillance of PFAS in sludge and biosolids at 12 water resource recovery facilities.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are refractory anthropogenic chemicals and current treatment processes at municipal water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) cannot efficiently degrade them, hence, these chemicals cycle through the environment. Certain PFAS can be concentrated in biosolids from WRRFs and are commonly land applied for beneficial reuse. Given recent advances in measurement of PFAS, documentation of the range of concentrations in pre-stabilized sludge and stabilized biosolids is critical to evaluating treatment best practices and assessing potential human health and ecological risks.

Wastewater management decision-making: A literature review and synthesis.

Wastewater management decision-making is complicated because of: (1) a complex regulatory structure, (2) the wide variety of conflicting expectations by stakeholders external and internal to the responsible utility, and (2) constrains including regulatory requirements, available technologies and practices, and customer willingness to pay. This review synthesizes the results from over 200 papers published since 2000 and presents a decision-making structure and process which is (1) science and fact-based, (2) reflects sustainability, (3) clear and transparent, (4) inclusive, (5) produces an objective-oriented decision, (6) scalable, (7) repeatable, and (8) efficient. Tools supporting the decision-making process are reviewed, including Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), process modeling, economic assessments, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA).

Fate of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through two full-scale wastewater sludge incinerators.

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are an emerging issue in wastewater treatment. High-temperature thermal processes, incineration being time-tested, offer the opportunity to destroy and change the composition of PFAS. The fate of PFAS has been documented through wastewater sludge incinerators, including a multiple hearth furnace (MHF) and a fluidized bed furnace (FBF).

High-temperature technology survey and comparison among incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification systems for water resource recovery facilities.

Solids from wastewater treatment undergo processing to reduce mass, minimize pathogens, and condition the products for specific end uses. However, costs and contaminant concerns (e.g.

Pyrolysis and gasification at water resource recovery facilities: Status of the industry.

Wastewater treatment generates solids requiring subsequent processing. Costs and contaminant concerns (e.g.

Depression and Somatic Symptoms in a Non-Western Physician.

Because of the high prevalence and association of somatic symptoms in depression, a holistic treatment plan that also targets the associated somatic symptoms can be the cornerstone for such patients. In this paper, we present the case of a 53-year-old male physician with depression associated with the somatic symptoms of dysphagia. The initial failure in treating his swallowing defect led to the deterioration in his condition.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances thermal destruction at water resource recovery facilities: A state of the science review.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a recalcitrant group of chemicals and can be found throughout the environment. They often collect in wastewater systems with virtually no degradation prior to environmental discharge. Some PFAS partitions to solids captured in wastewater treatment which require further processing.

Ictal aphasia: an unusual presentation of temporal lobe seizures.

Language disturbances during epileptic seizures are not uncommon, but isolated speech impairment is rare. We report a 67-year-old male with sudden onset of aphasia initially thought to be the result of an infarction of left middle cerebral artery territory. He had recurrent episodes of non-fluent, severely aphasic speech with intact comprehension as the primary manifestation, without other clinical seizure activity.

Breakeven costs for distributed advanced technology water-treatment systems.

Breakeven costs associated with the strategic distribution of advanced treatment units in a water supply network to manage network-derived water quality degradation were investigated. Disinfections by-product (DBP) formation was used as a representative water quality degradation parameter. A basic DBP formation model was used to predict that fraction of residential service population receiving water degraded below required quality levels within a hypothetical water utility service population.