Pub Date : 2025-12-06DOI: 10.1016/j.wri.2025.100337
Michał Kaczmarczyk , Barbara Tomaszewska , Nalan Kabay
Geothermal waters still represent an underutilised resource for freshwater production, yet in some cases their high mineralisation, variable temperature, and the presence of trace elements such as boron and arsenic pose significant operational and environmental challenges. Efficient treatment of these waters is essential to enable their safe reuse or discharge while maintaining the sustainability of geothermal operations. This study presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a pilot-scale ultrafiltration–reverse osmosis (UF–RO) system dedicated to geothermal water treatment. Environmental impacts of construction, operation, and end-of-life phases were evaluated using SimaPro 9.5.0.0 and the ReCiPe 2016 method. The novelty of this work lies in assessing a real UF–RO configuration for geothermal feedwater, thereby identifying system-specific environmental hotspots. Results show that material-related processes, particularly membrane production and disposal, dominate total impacts (≈80–85 %), followed by pump manufacture (10–15 %) and electricity use (<5 %). Improving material circularity and membrane lifespan offers the highest reduction potential.
{"title":"Sustainable geothermal water treatment with ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis: a life cycle assessment perspective","authors":"Michał Kaczmarczyk , Barbara Tomaszewska , Nalan Kabay","doi":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100337","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100337","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Geothermal waters still represent an underutilised resource for freshwater production, yet in some cases their high mineralisation, variable temperature, and the presence of trace elements such as boron and arsenic pose significant operational and environmental challenges. Efficient treatment of these waters is essential to enable their safe reuse or discharge while maintaining the sustainability of geothermal operations. This study presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a pilot-scale ultrafiltration–reverse osmosis (UF–RO) system dedicated to geothermal water treatment. Environmental impacts of construction, operation, and end-of-life phases were evaluated using SimaPro 9.5.0.0 and the ReCiPe 2016 method. The novelty of this work lies in assessing a real UF–RO configuration for geothermal feedwater, thereby identifying system-specific environmental hotspots. Results show that material-related processes, particularly membrane production and disposal, dominate total impacts (≈80–85 %), followed by pump manufacture (10–15 %) and electricity use (<5 %). Improving material circularity and membrane lifespan offers the highest reduction potential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23714,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Industry","volume":"35 ","pages":"Article 100337"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145737730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-05DOI: 10.1016/j.wri.2025.100335
Yassine Jari , Lidia Favier , Mohamed Chaker Necibi , Bouchaib Gourich , Christophe Vial , Abdelaziz Imgharn , Noura Najid , Ali Barhoumi , Mohammed Chafi , Veronique Alonzo , Nicolas Roche
This study reports a new visible light-driven strategy for the degradation and mineralization of bisphenol A (BPA) using copper-doped TiO2 photocatalysts. BPA is an emerging contaminant of significant environmental and health concern. A series of Cu-doped TiO2 catalysts with varying copper contents was synthesized via the sol-gel method and characterized using XPS, XRD, SEM-EDS, N2 physisorption, and UV–vis spectroscopy to evaluate their structural, morphological, and optical properties. Results confirmed that copper incorporation enhanced visible-light absorption and improved electron-hole pair separation, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability. The band gap energy decreased with increasing copper content, from 2.97 eV for pure TiO2 to 2.88, 2.41, and 2.28 eV for 1 %, 5 %, and 10 % Cu-TiO2, respectively, as validated by Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. Among all prepared materials, Cu(5 %)-TiO2 exhibited the best photocatalytic performance, outperforming both pure TiO2 and other Cu-TiO2 variants. Under optimal conditions (5 mg/L BPA, pH 7, and 1 g/L catalyst dosage), 96.2 % BPA removal and 77.9 % mineralization were achieved. The catalyst maintained excellent reusability over four successive cycles with minimal activity loss. Scavenger experiments identified photogenerated holes (h+) and hydroxyl radicals (OH•) as the main reactive species. UHPLC-MS analysis enabled the identification of intermediate products and the proposal of a plausible BPA degradation pathway. Furthermore, Cu(5 %)-TiO2 showed high degradation efficiency for other emerging pollutants and across different water matrices, demonstrating its potential for sustainable industrial wastewater treatment applications.
{"title":"Enhanced visible-light degradation and mineralization of bisphenol A using Cu-doped TiO2 photocatalysts: characterization, effectiveness, mechanism and DFT insights","authors":"Yassine Jari , Lidia Favier , Mohamed Chaker Necibi , Bouchaib Gourich , Christophe Vial , Abdelaziz Imgharn , Noura Najid , Ali Barhoumi , Mohammed Chafi , Veronique Alonzo , Nicolas Roche","doi":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100335","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100335","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study reports a new visible light-driven strategy for the degradation and mineralization of bisphenol A (BPA) using copper-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> photocatalysts. BPA is an emerging contaminant of significant environmental and health concern. A series of Cu-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> catalysts with varying copper contents was synthesized via the sol-gel method and characterized using XPS, XRD, SEM-EDS, N<sub>2</sub> physisorption, and UV–vis spectroscopy to evaluate their structural, morphological, and optical properties. Results confirmed that copper incorporation enhanced visible-light absorption and improved electron-hole pair separation, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability. The band gap energy decreased with increasing copper content, from 2.97 eV for pure TiO<sub>2</sub> to 2.88, 2.41, and 2.28 eV for 1 %, 5 %, and 10 % Cu-TiO<sub>2</sub>, respectively, as validated by Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. Among all prepared materials, Cu(5 %)-TiO<sub>2</sub> exhibited the best photocatalytic performance, outperforming both pure TiO<sub>2</sub> and other Cu-TiO<sub>2</sub> variants. Under optimal conditions (5 mg/L BPA, pH 7, and 1 g/L catalyst dosage), 96.2 % BPA removal and 77.9 % mineralization were achieved. The catalyst maintained excellent reusability over four successive cycles with minimal activity loss. Scavenger experiments identified photogenerated holes (h<sup>+</sup>) and hydroxyl radicals (OH<sup>•</sup>) as the main reactive species. UHPLC-MS analysis enabled the identification of intermediate products and the proposal of a plausible BPA degradation pathway. Furthermore, Cu(5 %)-TiO<sub>2</sub> showed high degradation efficiency for other emerging pollutants and across different water matrices, demonstrating its potential for sustainable industrial wastewater treatment applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23714,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Industry","volume":"35 ","pages":"Article 100335"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-04DOI: 10.1016/j.wri.2025.100336
Roland Nagy , Rebeka Bejczi
This study investigated the use of rigid polyurethane (PUR) foam for demulsifying oil-containing emulsions, focusing on improving oil removal from water. Emulsions with 5 V/V% oil content were treated using PUR foams of different geometries to evaluate how foam structure affects separation efficiency. During demulsification, the coalescence of fine oil droplets led to the formation of larger aggregates, which increased turbidity; therefore, in this study, higher turbidity indicated a more advanced demulsification stage rather than poorer water quality. Both larger PUR surface area and higher foam volume enhanced the coalescence process and improved oil removal efficiency. The results demonstrate that waste PUR foam can be effectively repurposed for oil–water separation, supporting sustainable and resource-efficient wastewater treatment.
{"title":"Application of waste rigid polyurethane foam for oil removal from water","authors":"Roland Nagy , Rebeka Bejczi","doi":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100336","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100336","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigated the use of rigid polyurethane (PUR) foam for demulsifying oil-containing emulsions, focusing on improving oil removal from water. Emulsions with 5 V/V% oil content were treated using PUR foams of different geometries to evaluate how foam structure affects separation efficiency. During demulsification, the coalescence of fine oil droplets led to the formation of larger aggregates, which increased turbidity; therefore, in this study, higher turbidity indicated a more advanced demulsification stage rather than poorer water quality. Both larger PUR surface area and higher foam volume enhanced the coalescence process and improved oil removal efficiency. The results demonstrate that waste PUR foam can be effectively repurposed for oil–water separation, supporting sustainable and resource-efficient wastewater treatment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23714,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Industry","volume":"35 ","pages":"Article 100336"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145683320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.wri.2025.100333
Tuomas Sinisaari , Joona Nieminen , Ari Ora , Mika Mänttäri , Tiina Rissanen
The water footprint of wool scouring could be reduced with membrane filtration of scouring effluent, allowing recycling of purified washing water. This study compares the performance of four commercially available polymeric ultrafiltration membranes for scouring effluent treatment. In a cross-flow system, permeate flux decreased by 30–54 % after 120 min of filtration. Chemical oxygen demand, turbidity, and colour retentions ranged from 72 to 90 %, 98–99 %, and 80–93 %, respectively. After one week exposure to scouring effluent, degradation was observed in the regenerated cellulose membrane, in which the molecular weight cut-off increased from 3.5 to 8.2 kDa. Polysulphone and regenerated cellulose had the highest fluxes, but polysulphone was prone to fouling, whereas regenerated cellulose degraded, making composite fluoropolymer membrane a competitive alternative. The results offer guidance for membrane selection and contribute to establishing a foundation for membrane-based effluent recycling in commercial wool scouring facilities.
{"title":"Performance comparison of four polymeric ultrafiltration membranes for wool scouring effluent treatment","authors":"Tuomas Sinisaari , Joona Nieminen , Ari Ora , Mika Mänttäri , Tiina Rissanen","doi":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100333","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100333","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The water footprint of wool scouring could be reduced with membrane filtration of scouring effluent, allowing recycling of purified washing water. This study compares the performance of four commercially available polymeric ultrafiltration membranes for scouring effluent treatment. In a cross-flow system, permeate flux decreased by 30–54 % after 120 min of filtration. Chemical oxygen demand, turbidity, and colour retentions ranged from 72 to 90 %, 98–99 %, and 80–93 %, respectively. After one week exposure to scouring effluent, degradation was observed in the regenerated cellulose membrane, in which the molecular weight cut-off increased from 3.5 to 8.2 kDa. Polysulphone and regenerated cellulose had the highest fluxes, but polysulphone was prone to fouling, whereas regenerated cellulose degraded, making composite fluoropolymer membrane a competitive alternative. The results offer guidance for membrane selection and contribute to establishing a foundation for membrane-based effluent recycling in commercial wool scouring facilities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23714,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Industry","volume":"34 ","pages":"Article 100333"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145622826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.wri.2025.100330
Miguel Ángel López Zavala
Circular economy arises as an alternative to facilitate sustainable development in the industrial sector by enhancing water resource efficiency, reducing wastewater generation, and establishing closed-loop systems. This study presents two approaches to implement circular economy of water in the automobile batteries recycling industry. In these proposals, the key principles driving the circular economy model (reduce, reclaim, reuse, recycle, recover, and rethink) were considered, emphasizing the essential role of reduction, direct reuse, reclaiming, recycling, recovery and rethinking in achieving sustainable water management. Survey and measuring campaign were done to determine flowrates and characteristics of freshwater, wastewater, and treated wastewater stream. Then, water and pollutants mass balances were conducted. As a result, i) important reductions on freshwater consumption (69.5 %) and total water inputs (>66.0 %) in the industrial process can be achieved by implementing direct wastewater reuse; ii) direct wastewater reuse and wastewater recycle can be increased in 12 % and 18 %, respectively, thus contributing in reducing 6.2 % the wastewater generation; iii) batteries' electrolyte is the main source of wastewater pollutants; therefore, it is recommended to rethink and redesign the industrial process to extract batteries’ electrolyte before they are processed; implementing this strategy will contribute in recovering 0.31 m3/1000 batteries/month (248 m3/month) of concentrated sulfuric acid, achieving zero disposal of wastewater, attenuating aquifer pollution by heavy metals and salts, and reducing wastewater treatment costs in 90 %, which represents savings greater than US$ 90,000.00/month or 1.15 million US dollars per year.
{"title":"Implementation of circular economy of water in the automobile batteries recycling industry","authors":"Miguel Ángel López Zavala","doi":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100330","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100330","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Circular economy arises as an alternative to facilitate sustainable development in the industrial sector by enhancing water resource efficiency, reducing wastewater generation, and establishing closed-loop systems. This study presents two approaches to implement circular economy of water in the automobile batteries recycling industry. In these proposals, the key principles driving the circular economy model (reduce, reclaim, reuse, recycle, recover, and rethink) were considered, emphasizing the essential role of reduction, direct reuse, reclaiming, recycling, recovery and rethinking in achieving sustainable water management. Survey and measuring campaign were done to determine flowrates and characteristics of freshwater, wastewater, and treated wastewater stream. Then, water and pollutants mass balances were conducted. As a result, i) important reductions on freshwater consumption (69.5 %) and total water inputs (>66.0 %) in the industrial process can be achieved by implementing direct wastewater reuse; ii) direct wastewater reuse and wastewater recycle can be increased in 12 % and 18 %, respectively, thus contributing in reducing 6.2 % the wastewater generation; iii) batteries' electrolyte is the main source of wastewater pollutants; therefore, it is recommended to rethink and redesign the industrial process to extract batteries’ electrolyte before they are processed; implementing this strategy will contribute in recovering 0.31 m<sup>3</sup>/1000 batteries/month (248 m<sup>3</sup>/month) of concentrated sulfuric acid, achieving zero disposal of wastewater, attenuating aquifer pollution by heavy metals and salts, and reducing wastewater treatment costs in 90 %, which represents savings greater than US$ 90,000.00/month or 1.15 million US dollars per year.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23714,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Industry","volume":"34 ","pages":"Article 100330"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145622763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Removal notice to “Development of a methodology for identifying and quantifying mining environmental liabilities in aquatic ecosystems: A case study of Segovia, Colombia” [Water Resour. Ind. 34 (2025) 100307]","authors":"Wilfredo Marimon-Bolívar , John Chavarro Diaz , Armando Sarmiento , Nathalie Toussaint Jimenez","doi":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100334","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100334","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23714,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Industry","volume":"34 ","pages":"Article 100334"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145690389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-26DOI: 10.1016/j.wri.2025.100332
Nikhil Dilip Pawar , Carmelo Morgante , Thomas Pregger , Patrick Jochem
The Middle East and North Africa region faces critical water scarcity and food security challenges that threaten economic development. Fertilizer use supports food self-sufficiency, but its production is highly water intensive. Supplying desalinated water to a decarbonized fertilizer plant offers an environmentally sustainable pathway.
This study investigates co-locating a decarbonized fertilizer plant with a seawater desalination facility, optionally implementing minimum liquid discharge (MLD) to generate additional revenue through recovery of magnesium hydroxide and sodium chloride (NaCl). Three configurations were modeled: a conventional seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO)-based plant; and two MLD configurations using high-pressure RO (HPRO), osmotically-assisted RO (OARO), and crystallizers. Financial performance was assessed using a novel discounted and allocated levelized cost (DALC) method, internal rate of return (IRR), and net present value (NPV).
In a Moroccan case study, the conventional configuration achieved the lowest DALC and energy consumption (0.70 USD/m3water and 3.8 KWhel/m3), with an IRR of 23.9 %. The first MLD configuration had higher costs (0.94 USD/m3water, 12.0 KWhel/m3) and a lower IRR (14.5 %), with water recovery limited to 71.4 % due to nonuse of magnesium crystallizer effluent (60.4 % in the conventional setup). Reusing this effluent in the second MLD configuration increased water recovery to 96.7 %, yet higher impurities at the NaCl crystallizer feed reduced the IRR to 9.7 %, which could be improved through financing strategies such as lowering capital costs to endorse the MLD-maximizing option.
The findings emphasize advancing impurity removal methods and exploring innovative project financing strategies to enable financially and environmentally sustainable seawater desalination for decarbonized fertilizer production.
{"title":"Techno-economic evaluation of maximizing minimum liquid discharge from seawater desalination for the fertilizer industry","authors":"Nikhil Dilip Pawar , Carmelo Morgante , Thomas Pregger , Patrick Jochem","doi":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100332","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100332","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Middle East and North Africa region faces critical water scarcity and food security challenges that threaten economic development. Fertilizer use supports food self-sufficiency, but its production is highly water intensive. Supplying desalinated water to a decarbonized fertilizer plant offers an environmentally sustainable pathway.</div><div>This study investigates co-locating a decarbonized fertilizer plant with a seawater desalination facility, optionally implementing minimum liquid discharge (MLD) to generate additional revenue through recovery of magnesium hydroxide and sodium chloride (NaCl). Three configurations were modeled: a conventional seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO)-based plant; and two MLD configurations using high-pressure RO (HPRO), osmotically-assisted RO (OARO), and crystallizers. Financial performance was assessed using a novel discounted and allocated levelized cost (DALC) method, internal rate of return (IRR), and net present value (NPV).</div><div>In a Moroccan case study, the conventional configuration achieved the lowest DALC and energy consumption (0.70 USD/m<sup>3</sup><sub>water</sub> and 3.8 KWh<sub>el</sub>/m<sup>3</sup>), with an IRR of 23.9 %. The first MLD configuration had higher costs (0.94 USD/m<sup>3</sup><sub>water</sub>, 12.0 KWh<sub>el</sub>/m<sup>3</sup>) and a lower IRR (14.5 %), with water recovery limited to 71.4 % due to nonuse of magnesium crystallizer effluent (60.4 % in the conventional setup). Reusing this effluent in the second MLD configuration increased water recovery to 96.7 %, yet higher impurities at the NaCl crystallizer feed reduced the IRR to 9.7 %, which could be improved through financing strategies such as lowering capital costs to endorse the MLD-maximizing option.</div><div>The findings emphasize advancing impurity removal methods and exploring innovative project financing strategies to enable financially and environmentally sustainable seawater desalination for decarbonized fertilizer production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23714,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Industry","volume":"35 ","pages":"Article 100332"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145625078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The degradation of microplastics (MPs) in marine environments, especially under low temperatures and in fine-grained sediments, remains poorly understood. In this study, laboratory experiments were conducted on MPs of polylactide (PLA), a bio-based and industrially compostable polymer, and polystyrene (PS), a conventional oil-based polymer, to investigate their degradation in marine water and sediments at low temperatures. After 3 months PLA incubation in marine water (6–8 °C), gel permeation chromatography/size exclusion chromatography (GPC/SEC) showed a 17 % reduction in molecular weight (Mn) and increased polydispersity index in samples under combined abiotic and biotic hydrolysis. Scanning electron microscopy indicated a local surface collapse of PLA. Degradation was inhibited in samples under abiotic hydrolysis alone. No molecular-level degradation occurred in samples buried in oxygen-deficient, fine-grained sediment. A limited (0.02–0.08 %) weight loss of PLA was observed across all experiments. Polystyrene microplastics showed no signs of degradation during the experiments. Our findings suggest that in bottom sediments, where temperatures are low and oxygen is scarce, PLA undergoes limited surface erosion rather than bulk degradation. This leads to long-term persistence and gradual reduction in particle size. Therefore, improperly managed PLA waste may contribute to micro- and nanoplastic pollution in deep-sea environments.
{"title":"Degradation of polylactide microplastics in the marine environment under low temperature and in fine-grained sediments - a laboratory scale evaluation","authors":"Karolina Szewc , Bożena Graca , Maksymilian Plata-Gryl , Grzegorz Boczkaj","doi":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100331","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100331","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The degradation of microplastics (MPs) in marine environments, especially under low temperatures and in fine-grained sediments, remains poorly understood. In this study, laboratory experiments were conducted on MPs of polylactide (PLA), a bio-based and industrially compostable polymer, and polystyrene (PS), a conventional oil-based polymer, to investigate their degradation in marine water and sediments at low temperatures. After 3 months PLA incubation in marine water (6–8 °C), gel permeation chromatography/size exclusion chromatography (GPC/SEC) showed a 17 % reduction in molecular weight (M<sub>n</sub>) and increased polydispersity index in samples under combined abiotic and biotic hydrolysis. Scanning electron microscopy indicated a local surface collapse of PLA. Degradation was inhibited in samples under abiotic hydrolysis alone. No molecular-level degradation occurred in samples buried in oxygen-deficient, fine-grained sediment. A limited (0.02–0.08 %) weight loss of PLA was observed across all experiments. Polystyrene microplastics showed no signs of degradation during the experiments. Our findings suggest that in bottom sediments, where temperatures are low and oxygen is scarce, PLA undergoes limited surface erosion rather than bulk degradation. This leads to long-term persistence and gradual reduction in particle size. Therefore, improperly managed PLA waste may contribute to micro- and nanoplastic pollution in deep-sea environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23714,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Industry","volume":"34 ","pages":"Article 100331"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145576058","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-12DOI: 10.1016/j.wri.2025.100329
Chi Thuong Doan, Huu Du Nguyen
Reliable assessment of water quality is critical for sustainable resource management. The Water Quality Index (WQI) is a valuable tool for evaluating water quality. However, the existence of multiple WQI techniques often results in inconsistent assessments and considerable uncertainty in the correct water quality classification. This study aimed to examine the robustness of machine learning (ML) methods for water quality assessment across several widely used WQIs. A stacking ensemble learning framework was developed, integrating multiple ML base learners with a meta-learner based on the Ensemble Deep Random Vector Functional Link structure. Experimental results show that the proposed approach consistently achieves superior performance, outperforming existing state-of-the-art models with accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score ranging from 99.17 % to 99.59 % across all evaluated WQIs. SHAP-based analysis was employed to interpret the model's output and clarify the contribution of each base learner to the final decision. It revealed that the most influential interactions affecting classification outcomes were those between BOD and DO, as well as between conductivity and pH. Meanwhile, the main contributors among the base learners were the deep learning models, particularly LSTM and MLP. These findings demonstrate that the proposed framework not only resolves inconsistencies in multiple index-based water assessments but also provides a transparent and reliable decision-support tool for water quality monitoring and management.
{"title":"Robust water quality prediction across multiple indicator formulations using an explainable ensemble learning model","authors":"Chi Thuong Doan, Huu Du Nguyen","doi":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100329","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wri.2025.100329","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reliable assessment of water quality is critical for sustainable resource management. The Water Quality Index (WQI) is a valuable tool for evaluating water quality. However, the existence of multiple WQI techniques often results in inconsistent assessments and considerable uncertainty in the correct water quality classification. This study aimed to examine the robustness of machine learning (ML) methods for water quality assessment across several widely used WQIs. A stacking ensemble learning framework was developed, integrating multiple ML base learners with a meta-learner based on the Ensemble Deep Random Vector Functional Link structure. Experimental results show that the proposed approach consistently achieves superior performance, outperforming existing state-of-the-art models with accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score ranging from 99.17 % to 99.59 % across all evaluated WQIs. SHAP-based analysis was employed to interpret the model's output and clarify the contribution of each base learner to the final decision. It revealed that the most influential interactions affecting classification outcomes were those between BOD and DO, as well as between conductivity and pH. Meanwhile, the main contributors among the base learners were the deep learning models, particularly LSTM and MLP. These findings demonstrate that the proposed framework not only resolves inconsistencies in multiple index-based water assessments but also provides a transparent and reliable decision-support tool for water quality monitoring and management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23714,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Industry","volume":"34 ","pages":"Article 100329"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145525358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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