BIOTREAT

"BIOTREATMENT OF DRINKING WATER RESOURCES POLLUTED BY PESTICIDES, PHARMACEUTICALS AND OTHER MICROPOLLUTANTS"

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'BIOTREAT brings together six research institutions and four SMEs to develop much-needed water treatment biotechnologies for removing pesticides, pharmaceuticals and other organic micropollutants from contaminated drinking water resources. These biotechnologies will be developed into prototype biofilter systems ready for subsequent commercialisation. The biofilters will contain non-pathogenic pollutant-degrading bacteria, with the bacteria being immobilised on specific carriers to ensure their prolonged survival and sustained degradative activity. Through beyond state-of-the-art research, BIOTREAT will ensure that these novel water treatment biotechnologies are highly transparent, reliable and predictable. Two complementary biotreatment strategies will be followed, one based on metabolic processes whereby the bacteria completely mineralise specific micropollutants and the other based on cometabolic degradation utilising the ability of methane- and ammonium-oxidising bacteria to unspecifically degrade a range of micropollutants for which specific degraders are not yet available. The biofilter systems will be carefully validated through cost-benefit analysis and environmental life cycle assessment. A road map will be drawn up for post-project exploitation, including individual SME business plans. Effective dissemination of the BIOTREAT results will be ensured by close collaboration with an End-user Board comprised of representatives from waterworks, water authorities, industry, etc. In addition to bringing considerable advances to water treatment biotechnology, the main outcome of BIOTREAT will thus be prototype biofilter systems (metabolic and cometabolic) ready for commercialisation in a number of highly relevant water treatment scenarios, including existing sand filters at waterworks, mobile biofilters placed close to groundwater abstraction wells, sand barriers between surface waters and abstraction wells, and protective barriers in aquifers.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

High-quality groundwater is the most important resource for public drinking water supplies, but it is threatened by micropollutants such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals. An EU-funded initiative investigated new technologies for the bioremediation of drinking water resources contaminated with micropollutants.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Six research institutions and four small and medium-sized enterprises collaborated in the http://www.biotreat-eu.org (BIOTREAT) (Biotreatment of drinking water resources polluted by pesticides, pharmaceuticals and other micropollutants) project to develop water treatment technologies.

The consortium exploited the potential of metabolic and co-metabolic processes to remediate water resources that have been abandoned or are in danger of being abandoned due to the presence of low concentrations of micropollutants. Researchers developed technologies that are superior to traditional methods of water treatment, thereby enabling these resources to meet EU criteria for drinking water.

Researchers began by characterising several existing and newly isolated micropollutant degraders to assess their efficacy. Of particular interest was the bacterium Aminobacter MSH1, which has the IncP-1-beta plasmid (pBAM1), and can degrade the pesticide residue 2,6-dichlorbenzamide (BAM).

MSH1 bioremediation ability was assessed in batch and columns systems after attaching to different carriers. Studies revealed that the biofilm structure of degrader bacteria was found to be dependent on pesticide concentration and medium composition. Addition of degrader bacteria to waterworks sand filters revealed that they face biotic stress due to competition from indigenous bacteria and grazing by protozoa.

Out of five co-metabolic system models, a reductant was the most promising. Methods and protocols were established to measure growth at low-substrate concentrations as well as the growth of selected degrader bacteria. Additionally, state-of-the-art technologies, including mass spectrometry, were used to estimate microbial growth and substrate utilisation parameters for each pollutant.

Project partners investigated bioaugmentation techniques. These included the use of non-pathogenic degrading microorganisms in sand filters, mobile biofilters and other protective barriers to prevent entry of micropollutants into aquifers.

Many large-scale facilities simulating waterworks sand filters were successfully established using metabolic and co-metabolic systems. The metabolic systems demonstrably degraded low concentrations of BAM.

BIOTREAT results will be used to develop suitable prototype biofilter systems for commercialisation. They will decontaminate drinking water resources cost effectively and safely with benign degradation products.

The prototype can be applied to a number of highly relevant water treatment scenarios. These include existing sand filters at waterworks, mobile biofilters placed close to groundwater abstraction wells, sand barriers between surface waters and abstraction wells, and protective barriers in aquifers.