Integrated Water Cycle: Impact of Treated Wastewater on Water Quality and Human Health Risks

Dear Colleagues,

Access to safe and clean drinking water is fundamental to human health and well-being. Within the integrated water cycle, the wastewater treatment is necessary for maintaining water quality and safeguarding human health. The adequate sewage treatment and disposal ensures that water intended for human consumption meets the safety standards established. It prevents the spread of waterborne diseases, ensures access to safe drinking water, reduces mortality and morbidity rates, and contributes to overall community well-being.

Deficiencies in wastewater treatment can impact the following:

• The spread of waterborne diseases, affecting human populations that rely on water bodies for drinking, bathing and other activities.
• Recreational and occupational exposure: people who come into direct contact with contaminated water bodies (e.g., swimmers, fishermen, wastewater treatment workers) may face increased risks of exposure to pathogens and pollutants.
• Drinking water contamination: inadequately treated or discharged wastewater can contaminate downstream water sources used for drinking water supply. This can lead to outbreaks of waterborne diseases and lifetime chemical pollutants’ exposure.

This Special Issue focuses on the results of the monitoring of the microbiological and chemical contaminants derived from the disposal in the environment of treated wastewater, with particular emphasis on the risk of contamination of waters used for human consumption.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together the results of researches on the chemical and microbiological contamination of treated wastewater that cause particular concern for human health.

Chemical contaminants of interest are as follows:

• Priority pollutants (PAHs, PCBs, etc.), heavy metals, pesticides, etc.
• Contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs), such as antibiotics, hormones, personal care products (PCPs), endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), pharmaceuticals (PhACs), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), microplastics, etc.

Microbiological contaminants of interests are as follows:

• Pathogenic microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites, that can pose significant risks to human health.

Moreover, antimicrobial resistance studies are considered of interest to this Special Issue (antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs)).

Contributions may include the following topics:

• Identification and monitoring of chemical and microbiological contaminants in treated wastewaters;
• Method development for the detection of chemical and microbiological contaminants in treated wastewaters;
• Fate of residual chemical and microbiological contaminants in the water sources intended for human drinking;
• Evaluation of the impacts on human health of the residual chemical and microbiological contaminants in the treated wastewater effluents discharged in the environment.

Prof. Dr. Elisabetta Carraro
Prof. Dr. Maria Concetta Bruzzoniti
Guest Editors

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