Preface

The quality of many environmental compartments (water, soil, air) is being compromised by the growing negative effects of human-generated pollution. Although physical and chemical-based remediation techniques are available, care must be taken due to their possible long-term environmental concerns. In-depth and current research involving microbiological processes essential to environmental protection is presented in Microbial Insights into Wastewater Treatment and Environmental Sustainability. Relevant processes include sequestering, mitigating, and managing water-based pollutants. The goal of this work is to enhance our knowledge of microbial populations responsible for pollution detoxification by focusing on their detection, observation, and avoidance. This intensive investigation will encourage the creation of novel strategies and ideas that advance the growing subject of environmental microbiology. There has been a noticeable trend in environmental cleanup technology in recent years towards biologically driven systems. These technologies provide a number of advantages over conventional techniques, including reduced maintenance, cost-effectiveness, reusability, energy efficiency, and efficient detoxification procedures.

Biologically driven technologies reduce secondary contamination hazards by reducing the volumes of residual by-products commonly generated by classical processes. Worldwide, environmental restrictions are becoming more stringent, thus increasing the demand for sustainable technologies and accelerating the adoption of biologically-based solutions. Such technologies are preferred over alternatives as they are more closely aligned with environmental safety, regulatory compliance, and sustainable development goals. This book emphasizes the importance of understanding bio-based technologies in order to manage modern global pollution properly. This work presents microbial sequestration of pollutants, including micropollutants, heavy metals, xenobiotics, and pollutants derived from petroleum. Great detail on co-metabolism, nutrient recycling, water treatment, energy production, and waste management are provided. Explored are recent developments in the fields of geomicrobiology, aeromicrobiology, biocontrol, plant-microbe interactions, and microbial energetics.

The book highlights emerging technologies for environmental management, including DNA microarrays, metagenomics, proteomics, green nanotechnology, and biosensor-based techniques. Alongside advances in hazard assessment and environmental monitoring, environmentally benign technologies such as waste valorization, biomining, biosolids utilization, and microbial metabolites are examined. By learning more about fundamental microbiology, readers will be able to comprehend biochemical processes in bioremediation and biocontrol technologies on a deeper level. From a scientific perspective, the book addresses important elements and field application issues while conducting a thorough evaluation of prospective and existing biotechnology techniques. This compilation provides a thorough overview of cutting-edge environmental microbiology technology, highlighting innovative green avenues to handle a range of environmental contamination issues successfully.