Guest Editors:
José Alberto Herrera Melián: University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Dunia Esther Santiago García: University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 30 September 2023
Environmental Systems Research is calling for submissions to our Collection on Current trends and challenges of nature-based wastewater treatments.
In small communities, conventional wastewater treatments are not usually the best option. Many facilities have been closed because of their high economic cost and low adaptability to variable pollutant load and volume. This has paved the way for the implementation of alternative technologies such as trickling filters, bio-disks, or the more natural ponds and constructed wetlands. These systems have a higher footprint than that of conventional ones but are efficient and robust, and quite often more sustainable, from both the environmental and economic viewpoints.
During the last decades, the number of facilities built and studies on natural wastewater treatment systems has increased exponentially. This fact shows the great interest these systems have arisen in the scientific community, the public and the authorities.
Nevertheless, research on alternative systems has important challenges to face, including reducing their footprint, providing valuable by-products, adapting to climate change, improving their removal efficiency, particularly for new contaminants such as emerging pollutants, or reducing their economic cost and environmental impact.
The goal of this collection is to provide updated information on the current status of research and implementation of alternative wastewater treatments, as well as future challenges and developments.
Image Credit: candy1812 / stock.adobe.com
This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 15.