From Laboratory Tests to the Ecoremedial System: The Importance of Microorganisms in the Recovery of PPCPs-Disturbed Ecosystems

The presence of a wide variety of emerging pollutants in natural water resources is an important global water quality challenge. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are known as emerging contaminants, widely used by modern society. This objective ensures availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, according to the 2030 Agenda. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) do not always mitigate the presence of these emerging contaminants in effluents discharged into the environment, although the removal efficiency of WWTP varies based on the techniques used. This main subject is framed within a broader environmental paradigm, such as the transition to a circular economy. The research and innovation within the WWTP will play a key role in improving the water resource management and its surrounding industrial and natural ecosystems. Even though bioremediation is a green technology, its integration into the bio-economy strategy, which improves the quality of the environment, is surprisingly rare if we compare to other corrective techniques (physical and chemical). This work carries out a bibliographic review, since the beginning of the 21st century, on the biological remediation of some PPCPs, focusing on organisms (or their by-products) used at the scale of laboratory or scale-up. PPCPs have been selected on the basics of their occurrence in water resources. The data reveal that, despite the advantages that are associated with bioremediation, it is not the first option in the case of the recovery of systems contaminated with PPCPs. The results also show that fungi and bacteria are the most frequently studied microorganisms, with the latter being more easily implanted in complex biotechnological systems (78% of bacterial manuscripts vs. 40% fungi). A total of 52 works has been published while using microalgae and only in 7% of them, these organisms were used on a large scale. Special emphasis is made on the advantages that are provided by biotechnological systems in series, as well as on the need for eco-toxicological control that is associated with any process of recovery of contaminated systems.

Nutrient load concept-reservoir vs. bay impacts: a case study from a semi-arid watershed

Large flow-through reservoirs and lakes possess environmental gradients and monitoring programs are mostly adapted for cost and time effectiveness. Bay areas are often more isolated from the main water body and are likely to have unobserved different environmental processes and impacts. This study was performed at the Itaparica Reservoir, São Francisco River, located in semi-arid Northeast Brazil, with dendritic form. Water residence time in the Icó-Mandantes Bay was estimated by hydrodynamic flow and transport simulations. The P-chlorophyll a relationship was used to develop the P use efficiency coefficient for critical P load estimation of 25 μg P L^-1. Phosphorus sources and input rates into a bay and the respective reservoir were calculated and compared regarding their different origins for the period after flooding (1988) and for 2013. After impoundment, the P load highly exceeded the carrying capacity because of leaching and mineralization processes. In 2013, P inputs were still above this threshold, whereas inflow and sub-basin P export during the rainy season were crucial. But eutrophication processes have increased in the bay relative to the main water body. Hence, water in hydraulic isolated parts is prone to eutrophication processes, thus, bays have to be specially considered in water resource management.