NREVEALING THE EFFECT CHEMICAL SIGNALING ON THE ATTENUATION OF CONTAMINANTS BY SYMBIOSIS. ADVANCES IN THE BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF WASTEWATER

WATER SCARCITY AND WATER POLLUTION ARE SOME OF THE CRUCIAL ISSUES IN TODAY¿S WORLD. EVERY DAY, 2 MIO TONES SEWAGE, INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL WASTES ARE DISCHARGED INTO THE WORLDand 1523;S WATER, EQUIVALENT OF THE WEIGHT OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN POPULATION. IN THIS SENSE, THE OCCURRENCE OF EMERGING POLLUTANTS IN THE EFFLUENTS OF SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS IS A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM DUE TO ITS POTENTIAL ADVERSE EFFECTS ON THE ECOSYSTEM AND HUMAN HEALTH. THIS IS DUE TO THE FACT THAT URBAN, INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS HAVE NOT BEEN DESIGNED TO ELIMINATE THEM. ALTHOUGH ADVANCED OXIDATION OR MEMBRANE BASED TECHNOLOGIES CAN SOLVE THIS ISSUE, THEY REQUIRE A HIGH LEVEL OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND ARE EXPENSIVE TO BUILD AND MAINTAIN. THE RESEARCH GROUP HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT THERE ARE LOW-COST NATURAL TREATMENT SYSTEMS, SUCH AS CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS AND MICROALGAE SYSTEMS, CAPABLE OF REMOVING EMERGING CONTAMINANTS FROM WASTEWATER. WE HAVE ALSO PROVED THAT VEGETATION PLAYS A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE BIODEGRADATION RATE OF POLLUTANTS. HOWEVER, THESE VEGETATION-BASED TECHNOLOGIES HAVE THE PROBLEM OF REQUIRING VERY HIGH SURFACE AREA AND LIGHT EXPOSITION. THE MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IDEA OF THE PROPOSAL IS THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE THE ADVANTAGES OF PHYTO/ PHYCOREMEDIATION IN THE BIODEGRADATION OF POLLUTANTS, BUT WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF VEGETATION (PLANTS AND MICROALGAE) AND THEREFORE REDUCE BOTH THE HIGH SURFACE AREA DEMAND AND LIGHT. TO DEMONSTRATE THE VIABILITY OF THIS IDEA, THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES WILL BE ADDRESSED: 1) IDENTIFY THE CHEMICAL SIGNALS THE SYMBIOSIS IN PHYTOREMEDIATION PROCESSES THAT LEAD TO AN INCREASE IN THE RATE OF BIODEGRADATION OF CONTAMINANTS AND 2) DESIGN WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES BASED ON MEDIATED SYMBIOTIC PROCESSES. THE PROPOSAL IS HIGHLY INTERDISCIPLINARY AND WILL BE CARRIED OUT BY COMBINING THE MOST RECENT SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN THE FIELD OF ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, METABOLOMICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING.