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From waste to resilience: the future of wastewater
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This review paper discusses how wastewater could be reused for clean water, fertilizer, and energy. It notes that treated wastewater by-products called biosolids often contain heavy metals, PFAS, and microplastics, which complicates using them as fertilizer, while wastewater from fish farming contains fewer of these contaminants.
Global water scarcity, influenced by climate change, population increase, and the exhaustion of freshwater resources, requires wastewater recycling. This article emphasizes the importance of wastewater within a circular and climate-resilient economy that functions as a source of clean water, fertilizers, and energy. The Critical Insights research suggests that future wastewater treatment facilities should be designed using sustainable technologies with minimal energy requirements to increase the percentage of treated wastewater worldwide. Effluent from current wastewater plants contribute to eutrophication, so increased nutrient removal and recovery are needed. Persistent contaminants like heavy metals, PFAS, and microplastics accumulate in biosolids, complicating their use as biofertilizers in agriculture. Aquaculture wastewater has lower levels of recalcitrant contaminants, providing opportunities for testing new technologies and generating biosolids suitable for beneficial use. Using wastewater as a resource to support aquaculture and flood prevention may catalyze improved wastewater treatment. Restoring ecological balance, enhancing global food and water security, and establishing a just, regenerative, and climate-resilient circular economy require the integration of pollution removal, nutrient recycling, and renewable energy production in wastewater treatment.
More Papers Like This
Challenges and solutions of municipal biosolids market creation: A critical review
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This review examines the challenges of using municipal biosolids, the nutrient-rich byproduct of wastewater treatment, as agricultural fertilizer. While biosolids help recycle nitrogen and phosphorus back into farmland, emerging contaminants like microplastics and PFAS are raising concerns about their safety. The study highlights the need for updated regulations and innovative treatment technologies to balance resource recovery with environmental and health protection.
Biosolids-derived fertilisers: A review of challenges and opportunities
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This review examines the use of treated sewage sludge (biosolids) as farm fertilizer and the concern that it introduces microplastics and persistent organic contaminants into agricultural soil. While biosolids provide valuable nutrients for crops, the microplastics they contain can accumulate in soil over time and potentially enter the food chain. The authors discuss thermal processing and nutrient recovery technologies that could help remove contaminants while preserving the fertilizer value of biosolids.
Advancing sustainable agriculture through multi-omics profiling of biosolids for safe application: A review
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This review examines the potential benefits and risks of using biosolids from wastewater treatment as agricultural soil amendments. Researchers highlight that while biosolids provide valuable nutrients, they may also contain contaminants including pharmaceuticals, PFAS, pathogens, and microplastics that could transfer to cropland. The study advocates for multi-omics profiling approaches to better characterize these risks before widespread agricultural application.
Future Perspectives in Wastewater Remediation
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This review paper looks at new ways scientists are working to clean up wastewater, especially to remove tricky pollutants like heavy metals, leftover medications, and microplastics that regular treatment plants often miss. Researchers are exploring smart tools like nanotechnology, AI, and specialized filters to make water safer to reuse — which matters because these contaminants can end up back in our drinking water and food supply if they're not properly filtered out.
Land Application of Biosolids in Europe: Possibilities, Con-Straints and Future Perspectives
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This review examines how sewage sludge, or biosolids, is used as agricultural fertilizer across European countries and the regulations governing this practice. While biosolids provide valuable nutrients like phosphorus, the study highlights concerns about contaminants including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals that could enter soil and food chains through land application.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.