Development of a systematic approach to assessing proprietary stormwater filter chamber performance under simulated conditions

A Concise Review on Water Treatment for Environmental Sustainability

Water treatment is increasingly challenged by complex pollution mixtures, pollutant transformation, residual streams, and the growing imperative for low-carbon and circular resource management. Conventional treatment processes remain essential components of modern water infrastructure; however, reliance on isolated, single-unit technologies is fundamentally insufficient because contaminants may be only partially removed, transferred into sludge or concentrate phases, or effectively controlled only under narrow and specific operating conditions. The purpose of this review is to systematically analyse and critically discuss recent water-treatment literature in order to explain why sustainable water treatment demands a systems-engineering perspective rather than continued dependence on single-process removal efficiency metrics. This review first examines the inherent limitations of major single treatment processes—including coagulation, adsorption, membrane filtration, and advanced oxidation—when confronted with complex and dynamic pollution conditions. It then develops a comprehensive system-level framework grounded in four interconnected pillars: multi-barrier risk control, circular resource recovery, life-cycle-based low-carbon technology selection, and adaptive real-time monitoring. The review concludes that future water treatment infrastructure should be deliberately designed as an integrated system that explicitly connects pollutant fate and transport, ecological and human health risk reduction, resource recovery, carbon emission reduction, and cross-media environmental governance. This holistic approach is significant because it provides a clearer, more actionable pathway for developing water treatment strategies that are technically effective, environmentally sustainable, and operationally reliable under long-term water-security pressures.

Overview on Landfill Leachate Characterization and Treatment Challenges

Landfill leachate is a highly charged and complex wastewater whose composition changes significantly with landfill age, typically categorized into young, intermediate, and mature types. In the specific case of Oujda Morocco, leachate management is further complicated by a waste typology characterized by a high organic fraction (74.2%) and high moisture content (64.4%). These conditions generate extremely strong leachates with elevated concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium, and total dissolved solids (TDS), representing a severe threat to regional water resources. Because single-stage conventional methods are no longer adequate to meet stringent environmental discharge standards, the recourse to integrated chemical-physical-biological processes is essential. The study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of landfill leachate classifications and their basic physicochemical characteristics; to introduce treatment technologies implemented globally and emphasizes the imperative of hybrid systems for managing highly concentrated effluents such as those produced in the Moroccan landfills. Furthermore, the research outlines a future study dedicated to optimizing an eventual combined treatment train specifically for the unique characteristics of Oujda's leachate.

Permeable pavement systems for microplastic mitigation: Critical insights on transport, retention, detection and removal efficiency.

Microplastics (MPs) in urban stormwater are emerging contaminants of increasing concern due to their persistence, mobility, and potential impacts on ecosystems and human health. Permeable pavement systems (PPS) have gained attention as stormwater control measures capable of intercepting MPs; however, their long-term performance and associated uncertainties remain poorly understood. This paper synthesises current evidence on MP transport, retention, detection, and removal in PPS based on twenty-eight peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and May 2026. The evidence indicates a rapidly emerging field, with most studies published during the past six years and annual output peaking in 2025. Reported short-term MP retention efficiencies range from 89% to 99.6% under controlled and field conditions. However, meaningful comparison among studies is constrained by substantial variation in pavement configurations, hydraulic loading, MP characteristics, and analytical methodology. Retention occurs predominantly within surfaces, joints, bedding, and geotextile layers, whereas fragment-shaped MPs (<100 µm) are most frequently detected in effluent. Emerging design innovations, including drinking water treatment sludge, cured carbon fibres, recycled e-polycarbonate aggregates, and tyre- or plastic-derived materials, show potential for enhancing retention and hydraulic or mechanical performance. Nevertheless, their long-term durability, remobilisation potential, secondary MP generation, and life-cycle implications remain largely unresolved. Overall, current evidence provides stronger support for short-term MP interception than sustained environmental risk reduction. Future research should prioritise harmonised monitoring and analytical protocols, long-term field validation, improved detection of tyre wear particles, mass-balance assessment, and evaluation of MP remobilisation under realistic hydraulic, climatic, and maintenance conditions to strengthen confidence in PPS as sustainable stormwater treatment technologies.

Nature-Based Solutions for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment: A Review of Technical, Economic, and Environmental Viability

Wastewater treatment remains a major challenge in rural and peri-urban areas, where conventional centralized infrastructure is often unavailable or insufficient. In this context, Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) have emerged as cost-effective and energy-efficient alternatives for decentralized wastewater treatment. This review presents a comprehensive and multidimensional assessment of 15 NBS types, evaluating their technical performance, economic viability, environmental sustainability, and social dimensions. The analysis indicates that NBS can achieve pollutant removal efficiencies comparable to those of conventional treatment systems, particularly for organic matter and, in some cases, emerging contaminants. However, their performance is strongly influenced by system design and operational conditions. The main limitations of NBS include relatively low hydraulic and pollutant loading capacities, as well as substantial land requirements, ranging from 0.45 to 840 m2·PE−1. These constraints limit their applicability in densely populated areas while making them particularly well suited for rural and low-density settings. From both economic and environmental perspectives, NBS offer significant advantages, including construction cost reductions of up to 66% and substantially lower energy consumption than conventional technologies. Nevertheless, their successful implementation depends not only on technical performance but also on social acceptance, stakeholder engagement, and the establishment of appropriate governance frameworks. Overall, NBS constitute a flexible and sustainable approach to wastewater treatment, whose effectiveness ultimately depends on site-specific conditions and the integration of complementary treatment components.

Infiltration–percolation on sand and granular activated carbon for greywater treatment and reuse

Comparative assessment of an analytical framework for atmospheric suspended microplastics: Filter suitability, pretreatment, and analysis-area effects.

Monitoring atmospheric suspended microplastics (ASMPs) is essential for understanding their sources, transport, and fate, yet the lack of standardized analytical methods limits data comparability. This study comparatively assessed key components of an analytical framework for ASMPs, focusing on filter suitability, pretreatment, and analysis-area effects. Five filter types were evaluated under laboratory and field conditions. Quartz, cellulose nitrate, and glass fiber filters exhibited negative peaks in specific FTIR wavenumber ranges, reducing spectral match quality and detection performance. Among the tested filters and under the conditions evaluated in this study, stainless steel (SS) filters showed the most consistent analytical performance. Direct partial analysis of 47 mm filters tended to overestimate ASMP abundance, whereas direct whole-filter analysis was excessively time-consuming. To address this limitation, a digestion-and-rinsing method was applied to concentrate particles collected on 47 mm filters onto 13 mm SS filters for whole-filter analysis. This method achieved recovery rates exceeding 80% across all tested polymer types and particle sizes under controlled laboratory tests. When applied to field samples collected at a single coastal site under relatively stable atmospheric conditions, concentrated whole-filter analysis of 13 mm filters produced abundance and size distributions comparable to those obtained by direct whole-filter analysis of 47 mm filters, while substantially reducing total analysis time. Within the scope of conditions evaluated in this study, the results suggest that the combined use of SS filters, digestion-and-rinsing pretreatment, and the concentrated whole-filter approach may provide a useful methodological basis for future efforts toward improving consistency and standardization in ASMP analysis.