Disinfection of pathogens and removal of emerging contaminants during wastewater and biosolids treatment

病原体的消毒和新出现的污染物的去除是废水和生物固体处理过程中的两个具有挑战性的任务。最近对指示菌和病原菌的研究表明，微生物能够在废水和污泥消毒过程中存活，并在排放到环境中后迅速再生。因此，重要的是通过废水和生物固体消毒过程研究微生物的命运和存活，确定导致其存活的环境，并开发新的方法和工艺来改善其灭活。拟议的研究重点放在这些重要任务上，旨在推进当前的消毒工艺，而不会产生有害的氯化消毒副产物。最近关注的另一个领域是从废水中去除新出现的污染物，其中包括内分泌干扰化合物（EDCs）和药物和个人护理产品（PPCPs）。新出现的污染物浓度极低，但已显示它们会累积并对水生生物和人类的生长和繁殖产生不利影响。废水排放和生物固体的土地应用是内分泌干扰物和PPCPs的主要来源，最好的管理政策是从源头上阻止它们的释放。不幸的是，废水处理厂的设计和装备都不足以去除这些化合物。因此，迫切需要开发创新的和具有成本效益的方法，可以有效地从废水中去除新出现的污染物。拟议的研究将使用新型分子印迹（MIP）和非印迹（NIP）颗粒来实现这一目标。MIPs和NIPs是“智能”聚合物颗粒，可以设计为选择性地靶向和去除单一化合物或同时去除多种化合物。MIP和NIP颗粒具有实现几乎完全去除新兴污染物而不产生其他子产物的潜力。该研究计划将有助于更好地保护环境和公共卫生，并将在加拿大至关重要的领域培养一批本科生和研究生。

Disinfection of pathogens and removal of emerging contaminants are two challenging tasks during wastewater and biosolids treatment. Recent research on indicator and pathogenic bacteria shows that microorganisms are able to survive wastewater and sludge disinfection processes, and regrow quickly after discharge to environment. It is therefore important to study the fate and survival of microorganisms through wastewater and biosolids disinfection processes, identify the circumstances that lead to their survival, and develop new approaches and processes to improve their inactivation. The proposed research focuses on these important tasks and aims to advance current disinfection processes without generating harmful chlorinated disinfection by-products. Another area of recent concern is the removal of emerging contaminants from wastewater, which include endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Emerging contaminants are present in extremely low concentrations; however, they have been shown to accumulate and adversely affect the growth and reproduction of aquatic organisms as well as humans. Wastewater discharges and land application of biosolids are the main sources of EDCs and PPCPs, and the best management policy is to stop their release at the source. Unfortunately, wastewater treatment plants are neither designed nor equipped to remove these compounds. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of innovative and cost-effective methods that can efficiently remove emerging contaminants from wastewater. The proposed research will use novel molecularly-imprinted (MIP) and non-imprinted (NIP) particles to achieve this goal. MIPs and NIPs are "smart" polymeric particles that can be designed to selectively target and remove a single compound or a wide range of compounds simultaneously. MIP and NIP particles have the potential to achieve nearly complete removal of emerging contaminants without generating other daughter products. The research program will help to better protect the environment and public health, and will train a pool of undergraduate and graduate students in an area of critical importance for Canada.