The Future of Municipal Wastewater Reuse Concentrate Management: Drivers, Challenges, and Opportunities.

Water reuse is rapidly becoming an integral feature of resilient water systems, where municipal wastewater undergoes advanced treatment, typically involving a sequence of ultrafiltration (UF), reverse osmosis (RO), and an advanced oxidation process (AOP). When RO is used, a concentrated waste stream is produced that is elevated in not only total dissolved solids but also metals, nutrients, and micropollutants that have passed through conventional wastewater treatment. Management of this RO concentrate─dubbed municipal wastewater reuse concentrate (MWRC)─will be critical to address, especially as water reuse practices become more widespread. Building on existing brine management practices, this review explores MWRC management options by identifying infrastructural needs and opportunities for multi-beneficial disposal. To safeguard environmental systems from the potential hazards of MWRC, disposal, monitoring, and regulatory techniques are discussed to promote the safety and affordability of implementing MWRC management. Furthermore, opportunities for resource recovery and valorization are differentiated, while economic techniques to revamp cost-benefit analysis for MWRC management are examined. The goal of this critical review is to create a common foundation for researchers, practitioners, and regulators by providing an interdisciplinary set of tools and frameworks to address the impending challenges and emerging opportunities of MWRC management.

Interfacial Solar Evaporation by a 3D Graphene Oxide Stalk for Highly Concentrated Brine Treatment.

In this work, we demonstrate a 3-dimensional graphene oxide (3D GO) stalk that operates near the capillary wicking limit to achieve an evaporation flux of 34.7 kg m-2 h-1 under 1 sun conditions (1 kW/m2). This flux represents nearly a 100 times enhancement over a conventional solar evaporation pond. Interfacial solar evaporation traditionally uses 2D evaporators to vaporize water using sunlight, but their low evaporative water flux limits their practical applicability for desalination. Some recent studies using 3D evaporators demonstrate potential for more efficient water transfer, but the flux improvement has been marginal because of a low evaporation area index (EAI), which is defined as the ratio of the total evaporative surface area to the projected ground area. By using a 3D GO stalk with an ultrahigh EAI of 70, we achieved nearly a 20-fold enhancement over a 2D GO evaporator. The 3D GO stalk also exhibited additional advantages including omnidirectional sunlight utilization, a high evaporation flux under dark conditions from more efficient utilization of ambient heating, a dramatic increase of the evaporation rate by introducing wind, and scaling resistance in evaporating brines with a salt content of up to 17.5 wt %. This performance makes the 3D GO stalk well suited for the development of a low-cost, reduced footprint technology for zero liquid discharge in brine management applications.

Interfacial solar vapor generation for desalination and brine treatment: Evaluating current strategies of solving scaling.

Interfacial solar vapor generation, an efficient, sustainable, and low-cost method for producing clean water, has attracted great interest for application in solar desalination and wastewater treatment. Although recent studies indicated significant enhancement of overall performance by developing photothermal materials and constructing different dimensional systems, stable evaporation performance and long-term operation of the evaporator are hindered by severe scaling issues. In this critical review, we present the latest strategies in reducing salt accumulation on the evaporator for solar desalination and brine treatment. We first demonstrate the consequences of salt accumulation, and then discuss various self-cleaning methods based on bio-inspired concepts and other strategies such as physical cleaning, ion rejection and exchange, fast ion diffusion, and controlled crystallization, etc. Importantly, we discuss and address the rational design of the evaporator via establishing a relationship model between its porosity, thickness, and thermal conductivity. Lastly, we evaluate salt-resistance strategies, evaporation performance, and possibilities of real application in different evaporation systems with scaling-resistant abilities.

Comparison of Lethal and Nonlethal Sampling Methods for the Detection of Largemouth Bass Virus (LMBV) from Largemouth Bass in the Upper Mississippi River.

Traditional methodologies to identify fish pathogens require euthanasia before the collection of tissue samples. While these methods are standardized and proven, there are instances where nonlethal alternatives would be preferred. Despite the need to develop nonlethal sampling techniques, few publications have focused on them and even fewer have used these approaches to identify viruses from infections occurring in wild fish populations. In this study, we compared the ability of nonlethal sampling techniques with traditional methods for the detection of Largemouth Bass virus (LMBV) from a wild population of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides from the upper Mississippi River. Largemouth bass virus was isolated from 30% of the Largemouth Bass sampled using traditional methods where tissue samples were inoculated on Bluegill fry (BF-2) cells. Furthermore, when using tissue cell culture to isolate LMBV, there was no significant difference observed in the overall proportion that was positive between the mucus samples and the kidney and spleen samples. Mucus swabs analyzed with molecular methods (conventional PCR and quantitative PCR) were more sensitive than traditional tissue cell culture-based methods as they detected LMBV from >70% of the samples; limitations to these methods (i.e., carryover contamination) were also identified. The results of this study suggest that nonlethal sampling may be a useful option for detecting LMBV from fish populations.

Synthetic Graphene Oxide Leaf for Solar Desalination with Zero Liquid Discharge.

Water vapor generation through sunlight harvesting and heat localization by carbon-based porous thin film materials holds great promise for sustainable, energy-efficient desalination and water treatment. However, the applicability of such materials in a high-salinity environment emphasizing zero-liquid-discharge brine disposal has not been studied. This paper reports the characterization and evaporation performance of a nature-inspired synthetic leaf made of graphene oxide (GO) thin film material, which exhibited broadband light absorption and excellent stability in high-salinity water. Under 0.82-sun illumination (825 W/m2), a GO leaf floating on water generated steam at a rate of 1.1 L per m2 per hour (LMH) with a light-to-vapor energy conversion efficiency of 54%, while a GO leaf lifted above water in a tree-like configuration generated steam at a rate of 2.0 LMH with an energy efficiency of 78%. The evaporation rate increased with increasing light intensity and decreased with increasing salinity. During a long-term evaporation experiment with a 15 wt % NaCl solution, the GO leaf demonstrated stable performance despite gradual and eventually severe accumulation of salt crystals on the leaf surface. Furthermore, the GO leaf can be easily restored to its pristine condition by simply scraping off salt crystals from its surface and rinsing with water. Therefore, the robust high performance and relatively low fabrication cost of the synthetic GO leaf could potentially unlock a new generation of desalination technology that can be entirely solar-powered and achieve zero liquid discharge.

Regenerable Polyelectrolyte Membrane for Ultimate Fouling Control in Forward Osmosis.

This study demonstrated the feasibility of using regenerable polyelectrolyte membranes to ultimately control the irreversible membrane fouling in a forward osmosis (FO) process. The regenerable membrane was fabricated by assembling multiple polyethylenimine (PEI) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) bilayers on a polydopamine-functionalized polysulfone support. The resulting membrane exhibited higher water flux and lower solute flux in FO mode (with the active layer facing feed solution) than in PRO mode (with the active layer facing draw solution) using trisodium citrate as draw solute, most likely due to the unique swelling behavior of the polyelectrolyte membrane. Membrane regeneration was conducted by first dissembling the existing PEI-PAA bilayers using strong acid and then reassembling fresh PEI-PAA bilayers on the membrane support. It was found that, after the acid treatment, the first covalently bonded PEI layer and some realigned PAA remained on the membrane support, acting as a beneficial barrier that prevented the acid-foulant mixture from penetrating into the porous support during acid treatment. The water and solute flux of the regenerated membrane was very similar to that of the original membrane regardless of alginate fouling, suggesting an ultimate solution to eliminating the irreversible membrane fouling in an FO process. With a procedure similar to the typical membrane cleaning protocol, in situ membrane regeneration is not expected to noticeably increase the membrane operational burden but can satisfactorily avoid the expensive replacement of the entire membrane module after irreversible fouling, thereby hopefully reducing the overall cost of the membrane-based water-treatment system.

Using transcriptional control to increase titers of secreted heterologous proteins by the type III secretion system.

The type III secretion system (T3SS) encoded at the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1) locus secretes protein directly from the cytosol to the culture media in a concerted, one-step process, bypassing the periplasm. While this approach is attractive for heterologous protein production, product titers are too low for many applications. In addition, the expression of the SPI-1 gene cluster is subject to native regulation, which requires culturing conditions that are not ideal for high-density growth. We used transcriptional control to increase the amount of protein that is secreted into the extracellular space by the T3SS of Salmonella enterica. The controlled expression of the gene encoding SPI-1 transcription factor HilA circumvents the requirement of endogenous induction conditions and allows for synthetic induction of the secretion system. This strategy increases the number of cells that express SPI-1 genes, as measured by promoter activity. In addition, protein secretion titer is sensitive to the time of addition and the concentration of inducer for the protein to be secreted and SPI-1 gene cluster. Overexpression of hilA increases secreted protein titer by >10-fold and enables recovery of up to 28±9 mg/liter of secreted protein from an 8-h culture. We also demonstrate that the protein beta-lactamase is able to adopt an active conformation after secretion, and the increase in secreted titer from hilA overexpression also correlates to increased enzyme activity in the culture supernatant.

The EBP50-moesin interaction involves a binding site regulated by direct masking on the FERM domain.

Members of the ezrin-radixin-moesin (ERM) protein family serve as regulated microfilament-membrane crosslinking proteins that, upon activation, bind the scaffolding protein ERM-phosphoprotein of 50 kDa (EBP50). Here we report a 3.5 A resolution diffraction analysis of a complex between the active moesin N-terminal FERM domain and a 38 residue peptide from the C terminus of EBP50. This crystallographic result, combined with sequence and structural comparisons, suggests that the C-terminal 11 residues of EBP50 binds as an alpha-helix at the same site occupied in the dormant monomer by the last 11 residues of the inhibitory moesin C-terminal tail. Biochemical support for this interpretation derives from in vitro studies showing that appropriate mutations in both the EBP50 tail peptide and the FERM domain reduce binding, and that a peptide representing just the C-terminal 14 residues of EBP50 also binds to moesin. Combined with the recent identification of the I-CAM-2 binding site on the ERM FERM domain (Hamada, K., Shimizu, T., Yonemura, S., Tsukita, S., and Hakoshima, T. (2003) EMBO J. 22, 502-514), this study reveals that the FERM domain contains two distinct binding sites for membrane-associated proteins. The contribution of each ligand to ERM function can now be dissected by making structure-based mutations that specifically affect the binding of each ligand.

The Drosophila melanogaster seminal fluid protein Acp62F is a protease inhibitor that is toxic upon ectopic expression.

Drosophila melanogaster seminal fluid proteins stimulate sperm storage and egg laying in the mated female but also cause a reduction in her life span. We report here that of eight Drosophila seminal fluid proteins (Acps) and one non-Acp tested, only Acp62F is toxic when ectopically expressed. Toxicity to preadult male or female Drosophila occurs upon one exposure, whereas multiple exposures are needed for toxicity to adult female flies. Of the Acp62F received by females during mating, approximately 10% enters the circulatory system while approximately 90% remains in the reproductive tract. We show that in the reproductive tract, Acp62F localizes to the lumen of the uterus and the female's sperm storage organs. Analysis of Acp62F's sequence, and biochemical assays, reveals that it encodes a trypsin inhibitor with sequence and structural similarities to extracellular serine protease inhibitors from the nematode Ascaris. In light of previous results demonstrating entry of Acp62F into the mated female's hemolymph, we propose that Acp62F is a candidate for a molecule to contribute to the Acp-dependent decrease in female life span. We propose that Acp62F's protease inhibitor activity exerts positive protective functions in the mated female's reproductive tract but that entry of a small amount of this protein into the female's hemolymph could contribute to the cost of mating.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of the soluble alpha-glycerophosphate oxidase from Streptococcus sp.

Single crystals of soluble FAD-dependent alpha-glycerophosphate oxidase (GlpO) from Streptococcus sp. were obtained using the microseeding and hanging-drop vapor-equilibrium methods. Synchrotron X-ray radiation was used to collect diffraction data to 2.4 A resolution from these crystals. GlpO shares >30% identity with several bacterial and mitochondrial alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenases, although the GlpOs contain a 50-52-residue unique insert that appears to be important for efficient flavin reduction. The present work is an important first step in determining the structure of GlpO, which should provide insights on the function of this interesting flavoenzyme and its homologs.