COVID-19 is a terrible virus that has impacted human health and the economy on a global scale. The detection and control of the pandemic have become necessities that require appropriate monitoring strategies. One of these strategies involves measuring and quantifying the virus in water at different stages of the Urban Water Cycle (UWC). This article presents a comprehensive literature review of the analyses and quantifications of SARS-CoV-2 in multiple UWC components from 2020 to June 2021. More than 140 studies worldwide with a focus on industrialized nations were identified, mainly in the USA, Australia, and Asia and the European Union. Wastewater treatment plants were the focus of most of these studies, followed by city sewerage systems and hospital effluents. The fewest studies examined the presence of this virus in bodies of water. Most of the studies were conducted for epidemiological purposes. However, a few focused on viral load and its removal using various treatment strategies or modelling and developing strategies to control the disease. Others compared methodologies for determining if SARS-CoV-2 was present or included risk assessments. This is the first study to emphasize the importance of the various individual components of the UWC and their potential impacts on viral transmission from the source to the public.
This study employs a novel combined pilot plant consisting of an anaerobic reactor followed by a membrane electro-bioreactor (eMBR) to treat domestic water containing selected micro-pollutants of emerging concern (CECs) [ibuprofen (IB), carbamazepine, diclofenac (DCF) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2)]. The first phase operated as a conventional membrane bioreactor to achieve the removal of organic matter [chemical oxygen demand (COD)], the CECs and phosphorus. A removal rate of 96.3% for COD, 94.5% for IB, 37.1% for CMZ, 87.1% for DCF and 96% for EE2 was obtained. In the three subsequent phases, current density (CD) of 5, 10 and 15 A/m2 was applied successively in the eMBR with the aim of investigating the effects on the removal of the former components and the fouling of the membrane. After the application of 5 and 10 A/m2 CD, the removal rate of COD decreased. Regarding phosphorus, a CD of 5 A/m2 was enough to achieve the rate of 97% and the membrane fouling suffered a substantial reduction too. Finally, the experimental results were subject to statistical analysis using the Kruskal–Wallis and Wilcoxon tests to validate the influence of each DC.
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