Browsing by Author "Bux, Faizal"

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Digitalization of phosphorous removal process in biological wastewater treatment systems : challenges, and way forward
(Elsevier BV, 2024-05-10) Sheik, Abdul Gaffar; Krishna, Suresh Babu Naidu; Patnaik, Reeza; Ambati, Seshagiri Rao; Bux, Faizal; Kumari, Sheena K.
Phosphorus in wastewater poses a significant environmental threat, leading to water pollution and eutrophication. However, it plays a crucial role in the water-energy-resource recovery-environment (WERE) nexus. Recovering Phosphorus from wastewater can close the phosphorus loop, supporting circular economy principles by reusing it as fertilizer or in industrial applications. Despite the recognized importance of phosphorus recovery, there is a lack of analysis of the cyber-physical framework concerning the WERE nexus. Advanced methods like automatic control, optimal process technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and life cycle assessment (LCA) have emerged to enhance wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) operations focusing on improving effluent quality, energy efficiency, resource recovery, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Providing insights into implementing modeling and simulation platforms, control, and optimization systems for Phosphorus recovery in WERE (P-WERE) in WWTPs is extremely important in WWTPs. This review highlights the valuable applications of AI algorithms, such as machine learning, deep learning, and explainable AI, for predicting phosphorus (P) dynamics in WWTPs. It emphasizes the importance of using AI to analyze microbial communities and optimize WWTPs for different various objectives. Additionally, it discusses the benefits of integrating mechanistic and data-driven models into plant-wide frameworks, which can enhance GHG simulation and enable simultaneous nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) removal. The review underscores the significance of prioritizing recovery actions to redirect Phosphorus from effluent to reusable products for future considerations.
Mechanistic insight into SO4•−/•OH radical for enhancing stability and activity of LaMO3 perovskite toward detoxification of bulk pharmaceutical wastewater: Stoichiometric efficiency and controlled leaching study
(Elsevier BV, 2023-08) Kumar, Arvind; Prasad, Basheswar; Kumari, Sheena; Bux, Faizal
This study aims to investigate the detoxification of real pharmaceutical manufacturing wastewater by PMS activated with perovskite LaMO3 (M = Cu, Co, Fe), synthesized by citric sol–gel method. The textural properties of synthesized perovskite were monitored by BET, FESEM/EDS, TEM, XRD, FTIR, and XPS techniques. The effects of key parameters (PMS dose, catalyst, pH and reaction temperature) on ofloxacin degradation along with PMS utilization efficiency as well as PMS consumption were evaluated in detail. Catalyst LaCoO3 exhibited the excellent catalytic activity and stability towards the degradation of ofloxacin (97.11 %) and COD (79.41 %) at optimum operating conditions. Removal of ofloxacin and COD were suppressed by 7 % and 9 % over the fourth cycle, along with minor leaching of Co were observed. Quenching experiments and EPR results demonstrated that both ROS species (SO4•− and •OH) were dominant species for ofloxacin degradation in LaCoO3/PMS system. The treatment cost for ofloxacin degradation in LaCoO3/PMS system was estimated to be 40.78$/m3 of real pharmaceutical wastewater. Six plausible degradation pathways of ofloxacin were proposed based on intermediate compounds identified by GC-MS and reported literature.
Molecular surveillance of tuberculosis-causing mycobacteria in wastewater
(Elsevier BV, 2022-02) Mtetwa, Hlengiwe N.; Amoah, Isaac Dennis; Kumari, Sheena; Bux, Faizal; Reddy, Poovendhree
The surveillance of tuberculosis infections has largely depended on clinical diagnostics and hospitalization data. The advancement in molecular methods creates an opportunity for the adoption of alternative surveillance systems, such as wastewater-based epidemiology. This study presents the use of conventional and advanced polymerase chain reaction techniques (droplet digital PCR) to determine the occurrence and concentration of total mycobacteria and members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in treated and untreated wastewater. Wastewater samples were taken from three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the city of Durban, South Africa, known for a high burden of TB/MDR-TB due to HIV infections. All untreated wastewater samples contained total mycobacteria and MTBC at varying percentages per WWTP studied. Other members of the MTBC related to tuberculosis infection in animals, M. bovis and M. caprae were also detected. The highest median concentration detected in untreated wastewater was up to 4.9 (±0.2) Log10 copies/ml for total mycobacteria, 4.0 (±0.85) Log10 copies/ml for MTBC, 3.9 (±0.54) Log10 copies/ml for M. tuberculosis, 2.7 (±0.42) Log10 copies/ml for M. africanum, 4.0 (±0.29) Log10 copies/ml for M. bovis and 4.5 (±0.52) Log10 copies/ml for M. caprae. Lower concentrations were detected in the treated wastewater, with a statistically significant difference (P-value ≤ 0.05) in concentrations observed. The log reduction achieved for these bacteria in the respective WWTPs was not statistically different, indicating that the treatment configuration did not have an impact on their removal. The detection of M. africanum in wastewater from South Africa shows that it is possible that some of the TB infections in the community could be caused by this mycobacterium. This study, therefore, highlights the potential of wastewater-based epidemiology for monitoring tuberculosis infections.
A review on conventional and novel adsorbents to boost the sorption capacity of heavy metals : current status, challenges and future outlook
(Informa UK Limited, 2024-12-31) Kumar, Arvind; Indhur, Riona; Sheik, Abdul Gaffar; Krishna, Suresh Babu Naidu; Kumari, Sheena; Bux, Faizal
ABSTRACT Heavy metal contamination in aquatic environments has attracted global concern due to its detrimental impact on living organisms, including toxicity and carcinogenicity. Therefore, initiatives to remove these contaminants from wastewater to protect both the environment and the well-being of humans is imperative. Materials utilized for wastewater treatment in the developing world needs to satisfy the main criterion of being locally available, inexpensive and that do not require additional energy input or modifications. Adsorption is the foremost used technique to eliminate heavy metals due to its attractive features including flexible design, operation, and cost-effectiveness. This review article potentially focusses on the use of novel and conventional adsorbents such as g-C3N4, graphene, cellulosic aerogel, natural occurring soil and minerals, aquatic and terrestrial biomass-based adsorbents for heavy metal adsorption, whilst focusing the discussion on the context of the developing world. This heightened interest in g-C3N4, and graphene-based adsorbents owes their unique properties such as great surface area, impressive chemical and thermal stability, three-dimensional structure, and functionalized derivatives which have shown great adsorption capabilities for heavy metals elimination. Additionally, cellulosic aerogel, natural occurring soil and minerals, aquatic and terrestrial biomass is low cost, easily available and effectively removes heavy metals. Finally, current progress, major challenges and future outlook of novel and conventional adsorbent materials for heavy metal removal are discussed. Herein a roadmap is presented together with recommendations for future research to enhance the successful utilization of bio-sorbents in water purification systems such as wastewater treatment plants.
Wastewater-based surveillance of antibiotic resistance genes associated with tuberculosis treatment regimen in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
(MDPI AG, 2021-11) Mtetwa, Hlengiwe N.; Amoah, Isaac Dennis; Kumari, Sheena; Bux, Faizal; Reddy, Poovendhree
Essential components of public health include strengthening the surveillance of infectious diseases and developing early detection and prevention policies. This is particularly important for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), which can be explored by using wastewater-based surveillance. This study aimed to use molecular techniques to determine the occurrence and concentration of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) associated with tuberculosis (TB) resistance in untreated and treated wastewater. Raw/untreated and treated (post-chlorination) wastewater samples were taken from three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in South Africa. The ARGs were selected to target drugs used for first- and second-line TB treatment. Both conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the more advanced droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) were evaluated as surveillance strategies to determine the distribution and concentration of the selected ARGs. The most abundant ARG in the untreated wastewater was the rrs gene, associated with resistance to the aminoglycosides, specifically streptomycin, with median concentration ranges of 4.69-5.19 log copies/mL. In contrast, pncA gene, associated with resistance to the TB drug pyrazinamide, was the least detected (1.59 to 2.27 log copies/mL). Resistance genes associated with bedaquiline was detected, which is a significant finding because this is a new drug introduced in South Africa for the treatment of multi-drug resistant TB. This study, therefore, establishes the potential of molecular surveillance of wastewater for monitoring antibiotic resistance to TB treatment in communities.