All Wastewater & Sanitation articles
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NewsHospital wastewater controls help contain antibiotic resistance in nearby waters
A new study of hospital wastewater reports that geography, rather than hospital proximity, primarily shaped resistance-gene profiles where wastewater controls were well established.
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NewsMultidisciplinary framework bridges earth science and environmental engineering to combat waterborne pathogens
Waterborne pathogens remain a leading cause of infectious disease globally, responsible for 24% of all deaths and over 10 million fatalities each year. Source: Zheng-Yang Huo, et al. Graphic Abstract Despite decades of progress in water treatment, conventional approaches have struggled to keep pace with the evolving ...
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NewsHigh-resolution map reveals where veterinary antibiotics enter China’s environment
A new study has developed a high-resolution, county-level inventory of veterinary antibiotic emissions across China, offering researchers and policymakers a clearer picture of where these pollutants originate and where they may accumulate.
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NewsSelf-powered system turns wastewater into water and fertilizer
A new study reports a self-powered platform that links electrically assisted forward osmosis (eFO) with a microbial desalination cell (MDC), allowing electricity produced by wastewater-fed microbes to drive nutrient and water recovery.
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NewsScripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance
Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven disease monitoring to support faster public health responses worldwide.
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NewsStudy: China reverses widespread freshwater deoxygenation via wastewater management
Freshwater ecosystems worldwide have been suffering from declining oxygen levels that threatens biodiversity, fisheries, and ecosystem stability. However, a new study offers hope: targeted nutrient management via wastewater control can reverse this trajectory, even in the face of rapid climate warming.
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NewsGlobal port microbiomes reveal hidden biosecurity signals
By analyzing more than 16 million 16S rRNA gene sequences from 1,045 port water samples collected in 23 cities across five continents, a study has found clear biogeographic patterns, a core set of dominant bacterial genera, and widespread potential pathogens.
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NewsThree interlinked factors are needed to sustainably grow microbes for MICP
A new review investigates cost-effective and greener ways to grow microorganisms for use in Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP), a microbial process that precipitates calcium carbonate, and identifies three interlinked factors that determine success or failure.
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NewsMicrobes frozen in ancient rubbish heaps help reconstruct ancient Greenlanders’ farms, seal hunts, and toilets
The microbiome of ancient middens in Greenland sheds new light on the daily life of Paleo-Inuit and old Norse communities. Researchers say the middens in the cold Arctic acted like long-term natural experiments, with human- and animal-associated bacterial signals remaining detectable many centuries later.
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NewsRNA barcoding approach reveals previously unknown virus-host relationships
Researchers have uncovered previously unknown relationships between bacteriophages and their bacterial hosts. They found a previously unreported group of bacterial hosts for the well-studied bacteriophage P1 and examine how subtle changes in viral structure influence which microbes a phage can target.
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NewsRice husk biochar catalyst breaks down antibiotic pollutant in minutes
A new biochar supported cobalt oxide catalyst rapidly removes levofloxacin from water while revealing a key reaction mechanism for cleaner wastewater treatment.
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NewsWastewater analysis offers a new way to monitor HIV in communities
Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) detection in wastewater offers a novel approach to monitor the virus in communities. Hybrid-capture genetic sequencing allows researchers to analyze viral genomes in detail and specifically identify viral signals coming from community wastewater.
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NewsBacteria organise themselves into diverse, coordinated communities in order to travel across large distances
A new study examined the migration of microbial communities over long distances, and found bacteria migrate not as solitary swimmers, but in diverse, coordinated communities that also contain viruses and “hitchhiking” microbes that cannot swim on their own.
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NewsWhy plastic lingers: Water chemistry slows nature’s cleanup
In a new study designed to mimic real environmental conditions, researchers found that the chemical makeup of natural waters significantly delays the breakdown of polystyrene, a common plastic used in packaging and food containers. Because sunlight cannot effectively initiate the degradation process, microbes cannot finish the job.
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NewsAntibiotics drive resistance in waterways - even after they break down
Antibiotics continue to drive resistance to bacteria, even after they are broken down in wastewater treatment plants and discharged into rivers and seas, new research published on World Oceans Day has shown for the first time.
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NewsDrug-resistant bacteria found in homes from sewage overflow
A new study shows that sewage overflows in homes can expose people to bacteria that can make them sick, including antibiotic-resistant and multidrug resistant bacteria which can make infections difficult to treat.
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NewsScientists turn microalgae waste into high-performance membranes for cleaner municipal wastewater
A new study reports a sustainable membrane technology that converts microalgae-derived biochar into an advanced material for municipal wastewater treatment, offering a promising route to cleaner water and waste valorization.
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NewsNew study finds neighborhood-level sampling could close equity gap in wastewater disease surveillance
Researchers working with New York State’s wastewater surveillance network found that while the system does a reasonably fair job of including vulnerable populations, it struggles in larger populations when an outbreak is starting, which is when it matters most.
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NewsHospital wastewater reveals drug-resistant fungus strains months before patients show symptoms
A study reveals that sampling raw wastewater closer to the source — sewer lines that directly serve hospitals, retirement homes, and long-term care facilities — allows scientists to detect drug-resistant strains of Candida auris as many as five months before patients begin showing symptoms.
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NewsNew ‘permanently wet’ coating method could transform wastewater treatment by helping bacteria survive better
Living bacteria embedded in coatings could clean wastewater, capture carbon and generate biofuels – if they survive the manufacturing process. Researchers have developed a method that keeps bacteria submerged throughout coating formation, increasing the number of surviving cells by around 500 times compared to conventional approaches.