Atrazine (ATZ) is a widely used herbicide associated with ecological and human health risks, making its removal from wastewater a priority. This study evaluates, for the first time, the performance of an aerobic granular sludge sequencing batch reactor (AGS-SBR) for the detoxification of ATZ-contaminated wastewater. The system consistently achieved high removal efficiencies (?95%) of organic matter and phosphat...
Pharmaceuticals are stubborn pollutants that resist degradation, lingering in wastewater systems as conventional activated sludge processes in treatment plants fail to degrade them effectively. As a result, these compounds accumulate in waterways or sludge, posing significant risks to ecosystems and public health. Growing concerns over these pollutants have fuelled the search for more efficient degradation proc...
Introduction: Among other resources, the textile industry consumes substantial volumes of water, thus producing highly contaminated effluents. These effluents are typically highly coloured and contain various chemical compounds (such as surfactants and dyes) and high salt concentrations, resulting in elevated chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and conductivity levels. Therefore, they...
Introduction: Per/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) known as 'forever chemicals,' are persistent pollutants entering ecosystems through natural and anthropogenic sources. Their extreme resistance to degradation, bioacummulation and severe health effects make them high-priority hazardous substances. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is promising for degrading recalcitrant pollutants in the presence of carbon materials (C...
Environmental pollution has become one of societys main concerns, which is why it is increasingly necessary to look for new effective remediation strategies. The applicability of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in different areas of knowledge has attracted the attention of the academic community due to their ability to process large datasets efficiently and deliver rapid, reliable predictions. Among them, ar...
Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) technology for treating pharmaceutical-contaminated wastewater has sparked a great deal of interest in recent decades. However, the prolonged effect of these pollutants in AGS systems still requires further studies. In this study, an aerobic granular sludge sequencing batch reactor (AGS-SBR) was used to treat synthetic wastewater containing carbamazepine (CBZ) at varying concentrat...
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent chemicals that pose significant environmental and health risks due to their widespread presence in water systems and their accumulation in the human body. Their strong carbon-fluorine bonds provide exceptional structural stability, making them extremely recalcitrant to conventional degradation processes. PFAS exposure has been linked to health issues inc...
Photocatalysis has gained considerable attention for the degradation of hazardous pollutants. In this study, the photocatalytic efficiency of Cu(0.50%)/TiO/Kaolin thin films was evaluated for the removal of diclofenac (DCF), a widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, from aquatic environments. The photocatalytic activity of the thin films was assessed in three different water matrices: distilled water ...
A indústria têxtil, das maiores consumidoras de água a nível global, é responsável por 20 % das águas residuais produzidas, evidenciando a urgência de implementar uma gestão eficiente da água, com soluções inovadoras e sustentáveis. Os processos de tratamento devem ser projetados para lidar com a complexidade e variabilidade dos efluentes gerados, assegurando a qualidade da água tratada e viabilizando a sua reu...
Effluents from the textile industry are an active problem in the sector and one of the worlds main environmental problems. The conventional treatments applied are not always efficient in terms of compliance with legislation, and, in many cases, the efficiency of treatment is guaranteed by the enormous energy expenditure involved, camouflaging the momentary problem and not effectively treating it. In this work, ...