Testing, Validation and Dissemination of an Innovative Biotechnology for Air and Water Treatment.

The present study is aimed to follow the start-up in the Italian and European framework of an American biotechnology for environmental decontamination and it focused on field testing stage for air treatment application, in parallel with a bench/pilot scale application on industrial wastewater treatment. The biotechnology applied is based on immobilized cell bioreactors, where air is ventilated and water is recirculated to provide the optimal conditions for the development of a mixed bacteria consortium, growing on contaminants captured from contaminated media (i.e. air or wastewater). The technology proposed has been studied from different perspectives, i.e. emission risk, overall sustainability and remediation performance. Several pilot installations have been accomplished for air treatment application, in different areas of interest. In particular, in the healthcare sector (hemodialysis unit, operatory room, intensive care unit and anatomo-pathological laboratory), where the protection against microbial and chemical agents is perceived as a necessity, both for operators and patients, the biotechnology displayed remarkable results, particularly on VOCs and bacterial count. In order to try and address one of the most challenging issue for air treatment, i.e. odor containment, two major pilot applications have been performed, on waste and wastewater treatment plant, with promising, but still unsteady results. A new opportunity for application was envisaged in radioactivity contaminated indoor environments and a preliminary impact assessment has been outlined, based on results obtained in different fields. For wastewater treatment, a single pilot scale plant was implemented and silk manufacturing effluent was object of the experimental remediation attempted. In a cost-effective perspective, the implementation of this system appears to be suitable for several solutions, i.e. within the framework of a multi-stage treatment process or as independent and easily implementable wastewater technology for cottage-scale manufacturing or small communities.