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Activated sludge and other aerobic suspended culture processes
Summary
This is a technical review of activated sludge and suspended aerobic culture processes used in wastewater treatment. It is relevant to microplastic research because activated sludge is known to concentrate microplastics, which are then distributed through biosolids applied to agricultural land.
The fields in the process model of activated sludge, the characteristics and species of microbial communities, dynamics and mechanism in the process, the influence of different xenobiotics on activated sludge, anaerobic digestion on waste activated sludge, and design and operation for activated sludge are reviewed in 2018. Contrast with the past reviews, several new highlights such as waste activated sludge treatment, antibiotic and heavy-metal xenobiotic, and pretreatment for anaerobic digestion are mentioned in 2018, which indicated that the research tendency of activated sludge from wastewater treatment to waste sludge treatment in the retrieved literature is developing. PRACTITIONER POINTS: None.
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[Microplastics in wastewater treatment: current status and future trends].
This review summarizes current research on microplastic occurrence, removal, and fate in wastewater treatment plants, noting that while plants capture most microplastics in activated sludge, significant numbers still escape into effluent. The sludge itself then becomes a major pathway for microplastics to enter agricultural soils when applied as fertilizer. Future treatment improvements and sludge management policies are needed to reduce these release pathways.