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Biochar takes the pharmaceuticals out of urine

08 Mar 2017

Method for cleansing waste urine could see it used as a fertiliser

US researchers have demonstrated that biochar, essentially burnt plants, can remove pharmaceuticals from urine waste streams. The findings could help recycle urine into agricultural fertilisers.

Human urine is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus – just what plants need. However, human urine can also contain pharmaceuticals, the release of which cause worrying developmental effects in aquatic ecosystems, hampering its use as a fertiliser. While some wastewater treatment plants recover nutrients from urine and wastewater, they do not typically remove pharmaceuticals. Current pharmaceutical removal systems involve membranes, electrodialysis and activated carbon, but they can be costly, energy intensive and unsustainable.

Pharmaceutical removal in synthetic human urine using biochar

Source: © Royal Society of Chemistry

Now, Avni Solanki from the University of Florida and Treavor Boyer from Arizona State University, have studied biochar, a precursor to activated carbon, to see if it could work as a viable alternative

Read the full article in Chemistry World.

Pharmaceutical removal in synthetic human urine using biochar
Avni Solanki and Treavor H. Boyer
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2017
DOI: 10.1039/C6EW00224B

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Ozone filling a hole in water disinfection

29 Nov 2016

Ozone generator proves to be healthier alternative to established chlorination technology for small-scale wastewater treatment

Every day, 34 billion litres of fresh water are used for landscape irrigation in the US. Source: © iStock

Scientists in the US have proven that wastewater disinfection by ozonation can reduce impacts on human health compared with chlorination, today’s most commonly used method.

34 billion litres of fresh water are used in the US every day for landscape irrigation. Small-scale disinfectant systems could curb this enormous need by allowing households and businesses to recycle their own wastewater.

Currently, wastewater disinfection is mainly carried out using chlorination, where chlorine or hypochlorite is added to the water to kill pathogens, but now microplasma ozonation has emerged as a competitor to this established system. In this new technology ozone, a powerful disinfectant, is produced using electricity and oxygen in a stacked generator. This allows energy efficiency and easy operation for small-scale water treatment.

Despite both technologies aiming to benefit human health by removing pathogens, they do have hidden health impacts due to emissions and energy consumption during setup and operation – factors that are rarely considered. Now, Jeremy Guest, Thanh Nguyen and their team from the University of Illinois have decided to put this emerging technology to the test.

Read the full article in Chemistry World.

Human health trade-offs in the disinfection of wastewater for landscape irrigation: microplasma ozonation vs. chlorination

Shengkun Dong, Jun Li, Min-Hwan Kim, Sung-Jin Park, J. Gary Eden, Jeremy S. Guest and Thanh H. Nguyen

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2017, Advance Article

DOI: 10.1039/C6EW00235H

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Halting the flow of microplastics

08 Nov 2016

Having investigated the fate of microplastics in different wastewater treatment processes, scientists in the US found that most plants are not designed to fully remove the small litter particles.

Microplastics are tiny particles (<5 mm in size) that arise from the degradation of larger plastics in the ocean as well as direct release from common household products such as toothpaste. Their full potential impact on aquatic ecosystems is still unknown, but they can be ingested by small organisms and may release harmful chemicals.

Melissa Duhaime and colleagues from the University of Michigan now compared the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants using three different clean-up methods.

Read the full article in Chemistry World.

Fate of microplastics and other small anthropogenic litter (SAL) in wastewater treatment plants depends on unit processes employed

Marlies R. Michielssen, Elien R. Michielssen, Jonathan Ni and Melissa B. Duhaime

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2016, Advance Article

DOI: 10.1039/C6EW00207B, Paper

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Bacterial behaviour a slippery slope to sewer fatbergs

11 Apr 2016

Researchers in the US have discovered that microorganisms in wastewater grease traps may aggravate fat, oil and grease deposits in sewers – a problem that these traps are designed to reduce.

In light of this research, Yan advises grease interceptor designers to consider microbial activity to maximise their effectiveness. Raffaella Villa, an expert in waste management at the Cranfield Water Sciences Institute, UK, however urges readers not to misinterpret the findings: ‘Although the results could be very helpful in designing separation processes … grease interceptors, if well designed and regularly maintained, are a very effective way of reducing the total deposit load in sewers.’

Read the full article in Chemistry World!

Read the original research paper in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology for free:

Impact of microbial activities and hydraulic retention time on the production and profile of long chain fatty acids in grease interceptors: a laboratory study
Xia He and Tao Yan
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2016, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C6EW00013D, Paper

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Saving water increases health risks in green buildings

26 Nov 2015

US researchers have found that strategies for conserving water in green buildings can lead to higher levels of bacteria in the plumbing systems, with potentially serious implications for public health.

William Rhoads and colleagues at Virginia Tech conducted a survey of the drinking water quality in different types of green building, from an office to a net-zero energy home. They measured the chlorine levels, temperature and microbial content, including the prevalence of Legionella bacteria, the cause of Legionnaires’ disease. […]

Read the full article in Chemistry World!

Read the original research paper in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology for free:

Survey of green building water systems reveals elevated water age and water quality concerns
William J. Rhoads, Amy Pruden and Marc A. Edwards
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5EW00221D, Paper

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Chlorinated compounds form in tea and coffee

24 Nov 2015

Tea and coffee are the most consumed beverages in the world, but a new study has discovered some unexpected chemistry occurring in our cups.

Contrary to popular belief, boiling the water only removes around 20% of chlorine © Shutterstock

Chlorine is added to water as part of the disinfection process, with a residual amount remaining in the treated water to supress microbial growth. This chlorine reacts with organic molecules in the water to produce chlorinated chemicals known as disinfection byproducts (DBPs), such as chloroform.

Nikolai Kuhnert from Jacobs University, Germany, conducts research on compounds in tea and coffee. He advocates further research into the effects processing has on our food. ‘It illustrates further how little we know on the chemistry of food processing that significantly alters the chemical composition of our daily diet, producing both novel compounds with adverse or beneficial properties for human health.’

Read the full article in Chemistry World!

Read the original research paper in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology:
Emerging investigators series: formation of disinfection byproducts during the preparation of tea and coffee
Tom Bond, Seeheen C. Tang, Nigel Graham and Michael R. Templeton
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2016, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5EW00222B

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Flushing advice is flawed

24 Aug 2015

Instructions given to the public by water companies and other authorities in the aftermath of chemical contaminations are inconsistent and not validated by science. So say scientists in the US who are developing models to understand complex plumbing systems to ensure consumers get the best guidance on how to regain access to safe drinking water.

In the last two years, more than a million people in Canada and the US have been affected by similar incidents. Large-scale water contamination incidents are not uncommon, yet there has been little research into purification procedures.

Read the full article in Chemistry World!

Read the original research paper in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology:
Decontaminating chemically contaminated residential premise plumbing systems by flushing
K. S. Casteloes, R. H. Brazeau and A. J. Whelton
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5EW00118H, Paper

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Switching desalination plants from carbon dioxide source to sink

22 Jan 2015

A UK researcher has proposed a new process to decompose waste desalination brine using solar energy that could allow desalination plants to act as a sink rather than a source of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and help to neutralise ocean acidity.

Phil Renforth, a geo-environmental engineer from Cardiff University, highlights that a major advantage of Davies’ process is that it can be appended to existing technology. ‘This approach may allow the industry to transform itself from a carbon dioxide villain into a force for good in the climate change debate.’

Read the full article in Chemistry World.

Read the full research paper for free* in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology:
Solar thermal decomposition of desalination reject brine for carbon dioxide removal and neutralisation of ocean acidity
P. A. Davies
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4EW00058G, Communication

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Energy positive treatment for fracking water

06 Nov 2014

$5 billion (£3 billion) is the estimated annual cost for disposing of contaminated water produced during shale gas extraction. Now, researchers in the US have developed a new technology that could reduce the cost of dealing with this water by 30–40%.

Hydraulic fracturing, the process used to extract oil and gas from underground rock formations, produces over 20 billion barrels of contaminated water every year. Current methods, such as underground injection, to dispose of these vast quantities of contaminated water have risks, including a chance of initiating earthquakes. Reuse of this water avoids disposal issues, but requires multiple treatment processes to remove contaminants such as salts and organic hydrocarbons.

Zhiyong Jason Ren and colleagues from the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a technique that can simultaneously remove organic pollutants and salinity from contaminated water whilst producing energy. ‘The beauty of this technology is that it can replace five or six current processes with one to kill multiple birds with one stone,’ he says.

To read the full article please visit Chemistry World.

Congratulations to the team at CU-Boulder who were recently awarded first place in the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps Program for the development of this technology.

With energy companies eager to test the technology in the field, Ren’s team is now working to scale up the process. You can access their full research paper, which is part of our Fracking in Perspective web collection for free* by clicking the link below.

Microbial capacitive desalination for integrated organic matter and salt removal and energy production from unconventional natural gas produced water

Casey Forrestal, Zachary Stoll, Pei Xu and Zhiyong Jason Ren

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4EW00050A, Paper
From themed collection Fracking in perspective

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Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology blog

Archive for the ‘Chemistry World Highlights’ Category

Biochar takes the pharmaceuticals out of urine

Ozone filling a hole in water disinfection

Halting the flow of microplastics

Bacterial behaviour a slippery slope to sewer fatbergs

Saving water increases health risks in green buildings

Chlorinated compounds form in tea and coffee

Flushing advice is flawed

Switching desalination plants from carbon dioxide source to sink

Energy positive treatment for fracking water

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