The invention pertains to a method (200, 300, 400) of at least partly removing at least one micropollutant from wastewater (104) comprising carbogenous compounds and at least one micropollutant. The method comprising the steps of: (a) dividing the wastewater (104) into a main stream (105) and a side stream (106); (b) treating main stream (105) with bacteria to reduce the content of carbogenous compounds to provide depleted wastewater (107) comprising at least one micropollutant; (c) treating the depleted wastewater (107) with a second portion of microorganisms (162), having the ability of degrading the at least one micropollutant, to, at least partly, remove the at least one micropollutant thereby providing treated water (170), wherein the second portion of microorganisms (162) have been enriched by feeding the side stream (106) to it before using the second portion of microorganisms (162) in treating the depleted wastewater (107); and (d) feeding a first portion of microorganisms (161), having the ability of degrading the at least one micropollutant, with the side stream (106), to enrich them for subsequent use in treating the depleted wastewater (107) to at least partly remove the at least one micropollutant.

A treatment process for municipal, commercial, industrial, and institutional fluids containing one or more substances at a first concentration includes a contactor, an aerator, and a separator. The fluid is mixed with a powdered natural lignocellulosic material (PNLM), a microbial growth inoculum, and at least a portion of the fluid in the contactor to provide a mixture that includes an established, acclimated microbial growth in the fluid. The mixture is introduced to an aerator where physical binding and chemical bonding of at least some of the one or more substances to the PNLM additionally physiological uptake by microbial growth in a biosludge reduces the concentration of at least some of the one or more substances in the fluid discharged from the aerator to a second concentration. The biosludge is separated to recover at least a portion of the PNLM that is recycled to the contactor.

A granule-forming method using a semi-batch reaction tank, wherein: operation cycles of a first operation cycle for performing a biological treatment step at a first sludge load and after the first operation cycle, a second operation cycle for performing the biological treatment step at a second sludge load are performed repeatedly; the first sludge load is set so that the soluble BOD concentration in the semi-batch reaction tank at the time of completion of the biological treatment step of the first operation cycle does not decrease to a threshold value or less; and the second sludge load is set so that the soluble BOD concentration in the semi-batch reaction tank at the time of completion of the biological treatment step of the second operation cycle is at or below the threshold value.

High levels of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) can be produced from wastewater comprising Readily Biodegradable COD (RBCOD) using activated sludge comprising microorganisms capable of accumulating PHA by contacting the wastewater with the activated sludge in the presence of dissolved oxygen during a first period of time, to obtain PHA-loaded activated sludge, and then supplying elements essential for growth such as nitrogen and phosphorus and allowing up-take of these elements and limited growth during a second period of time, the supplied amount of at least of one of said essential elements compared to the amount of RBCOD supplied in step a) limiting the growth to an extent that not all PHA is used for growth, to obtain grown activated sludge; and removing or harvesting part of the PHA-loaded activated sludge and/or part of the grown activated sludge, so that the total average retention time of the sludge is less than 72 h.

Systems and methods for performing bioremediation using the Geobacillus sp. bacterial strain are provided which are capable of effectively degrading 1,4-dioxane and/or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and/or BaP and efficiently degrading other ring-based organic contaminants. The exemplary bioremediation methods include steps for administering an effective, degrading amount of the bacteria to soil containing excess amounts of 1,4-dioxane and/or PFAS and/or BaP and incubating the bacteria administered to the soil at a given temperature and for a duration that are suitable for promoting incubation and reducing and the concentration of 1,4-dioxane and/or PFAS and/or BaP below a maximum concentration, as might be specified by a regulatory body.

A method is described for recovering resources from a microbe supporting environment such as a water treatment system, comprising the steps of using microbial DNA sequencing to analyze the microbiome of the microbe supporting environment and identifying adjustments to the microbial content of the microbiome that will be useful in extracting resources from the microbe supporting environment such as a water treatment system, wherein the resources extracted can include, for example, methane released by microbes, nitrogen, phosphorus, or other contaminants generated by microbes, and/or clean water obtained by removing contaminants in a water treatment system.

A process and apparatus for the anaerobic digestion of organic wastes, preferably to also produce a useful biogas, is described. The waste may have a total solids (TS) concentration of 6% or less while a digester is operated at a higher solids concentration, for example with a feed TS concentration of 8-12%. One or more separation stages downstream of the digester separate active bacteria and undigested organics from the digestate, and return separated matter to the digester. Optionally, a feed thickening apparatus and step may be provided upstream of the digester. The upstream thickener and recycle from the downstream separation stages are operated such that the TS of the combined inputs to the digester is within a desired range.

A method and a system for selecting and retaining solids with superior settling characteristics, the method comprising feeding wastewater to an input of a processor that carries out a treatment process on the wastewater, outputting processed wastewater at an output of the processor, feeding the processed wastewater to an input of a gravimetric selector that selects solids with superior settling characteristics, and outputting a recycle stream at a first output of the gravimetric selector back to the processor.

An aquarium filtration and algae control system, for use with an aquarium containing a quantity of water, having a housing having a growth chamber and an overflow part. The growth chamber includes at least two cells separated by at least one photocontactor wall. Water from the aquarium is sprayed into each of the cells to create circuitous high velocity water flow and each cell and each photocontactor wall is illuminated by a high intensity light source to promote diatom algae growth within the growth chamber and thereby prevent undesirable algae growth elsewhere in the aquarium.

Described herein is a wastewater treatment process comprising an anoxic zone upstream of an attached growth reactor wherein a portion of nitrified waste from the attached growth reactor is recycled to a point in the treatment process that is upstream of at least part of the anoxic zone rather than being released from the system. As a result, the influent wastewater and the recycled effluent mix together and are nitrified and denitrified as they progress through the waste treatment system. The key aspect of this process is that the nitrate-rich, effluent water is returned to the anoxic reactor for (additional) denitrification of the wastewater.