Development and testing of a novel compact system for municipal wastewater treatment and irrigation using advanced technologies.

Abdel-Hameed M El-Aassar, Heba Isawi, Mohamed E A Ali, Hosam A Shawky, Mohamed T Mito, Selda Oterkus, Erkan Oterkus

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Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Abdel-Hameed M El-AassarWater Treatment and Desalination Unit, Hydrogeochemistry Department, Water Resources and Desert Soils Division, Desert Research Centre, P.O.B. 11753, Cairo, Egypt.

Heba IsawiWater Treatment and Desalination Unit, Hydrogeochemistry Department, Water Resources and Desert Soils Division, Desert Research Centre, P.O.B. 11753, Cairo, Egypt.

Mohamed E A AliWater Treatment and Desalination Unit, Hydrogeochemistry Department, Water Resources and Desert Soils Division, Desert Research Centre, P.O.B. 11753, Cairo, Egypt.

Hosam A ShawkyWater Treatment and Desalination Unit, Hydrogeochemistry Department, Water Resources and Desert Soils Division, Desert Research Centre, P.O.B. 11753, Cairo, Egypt.

Mohamed T MitoMechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering and Technology, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Abu-Qir, Alexandria, Egypt. mohamed.mito@aast.edu.

Selda OterkusNaval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.

Erkan OterkusNaval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Growing water scarcity and increasing food demand are driving interest in municipal Wastewater Treatment (WWT) for crop irrigation. However, centralised WWT systems require substantial capital and infrastructure investment, which poses challenges for small agricultural communities. Decentralised compact systems are simpler to operate, more cost-effective, and better suited to rural areas. This study presents a novel, compact municipal WWT system specifically designed for crop irrigation. The system utilises four WWT technologies, integrating an ultrafiltration Membrane Bioreactor with mechanical sieving, extended aeration, and a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor. A detailed sampling and testing methodology was implemented to experimentally evaluate system performance. The results showed significant reductions in major ions, with Total Dissolved Solids decreasing from 2348.8 to 1157.2 mg/L (50.7% reduction), and removal rates ranging from 25 to 98.9% for heavy metal ions from the municipal wastewater. The sanitary biological quality of the wastewater also improved substantially, with coliform and total microbial counts reduced by 81% and 18%, respectively. Overall, the product water met the Egyptian irrigation standards for edible crops, indicating the potential of this compact system as a practical solution for municipal WWT in rural areas.

Indexed as

Agricultural IrrigationWaste Disposal, FluidWastewaterWater PurificationBioreactorsMetals, HeavyMetals, HeavyWastewaterCompact unitCrop irrigationMembrane bioreactorMoving bed biofilm reactorWastewater treatment

Identifiers

PMID41361228

DOI10.1038/s41598-025-29122-y

PMCPMC12689649

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LicenceCC BY

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.