Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology最新文献

{"title":"Ecological effects and multi-factor synergistic driving mechanisms of antibiotic mixtures in aquatic–terrestrial transition zones","authors":"Bo Zhu, Tao Wang, Jian Huang, Hua Zhang, Mengyao Zheng and Chunhua He","doi":"10.1039/D5EW01085C","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EW01085C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Aquatic–terrestrial transition zones are essential to sustain aquatic ecosystem balance. Antibiotics, as widespread emerging organic contaminants, have received limited research attention within these interfacial environments. This study focuses on the transition zones of the Chaohu Lake, adopting the risk quotient (RQ) method, the absolute principal component score-multiple linear regression model, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to investigate the ecological effects of antibiotics and their multi-factor driving mechanisms. The results revealed 13 antibiotics, with total concentrations ranging from 69.35 to 136.66 ng L<small>⁻¹</small>, dominated by tetracyclines. Antibiotic distribution showed significant spatial heterogeneity, with the most severe contamination observed at the inlets of the Jiyu, Nanfei, and Shiwuli Rivers. Ecological risk assessment indicated moderate to high risks to algae posed by roxithromycin (RQ = 0.82), erythromycin (RQ = 1.21), and chlortetracycline (RQ = 1), whereas risks to invertebrates and fish were low (all RQ &lt; 0.01). Source apportionment identified domestic sewage (40.8%), livestock and poultry farming (34.2%), and aquaculture (24.9%) as the primary sources. PLS-SEM analysis demonstrated significant positive effects of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and ammonia nitrogen on antibiotic occurrence, with factor loadings of 0.807, 0.753, and 0.825, respectively. Sulfonamides (SAs), fluoroquinolones (FQs), and macrolides (MLs) were mainly driven by nitrogen and phosphorus, with path coefficients of 0.791, 0.703, and 0.861, respectively, whereas tetracyclines (TCs) were more influenced by other unmodeled factors (<em>R</em><small>²</small> = 0.28). This study reveals the multi-factor synergistic mechanisms of antibiotic mixtures in aquatic–terrestrial transition zones, supporting ecological risk prevention of emerging organic pollutants.</p>","PeriodicalId":75,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology","volume":" 4","pages":" 1187-1198"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147588315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development of a sensor-integrated fuzzy logic-based decision support system for real-time classification and management of textile wastewater","authors":"Hülya Kıcık, Ayşe Ceren Şen and Osman Erdem Kestioğlu","doi":"10.1039/D6EW00015K","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D6EW00015K","url":null,"abstract":"<p >A prototype wastewater treatment system integrated with a fuzzy logic-based decision support model was developed to characterize, classify, and assess the reuse potential of textile wastewater. Unlike conventional approaches that treat all effluent streams uniformly, this study presents a selective management strategy based on real-time pollution load classification to enable cost-effective and sustainable reuse. A total of 132 samples from various textile processes were analyzed for color, total suspended solids (TSS), pH, conductivity, and temperature. The results indicated that approximately 58% of the wastewater was suitable for membrane treatment and reuse. Sensor data from a jet dyeing machine fed a fuzzy logic inference system that determined wastewater treatability in real-time, automatically routing streams to either the drain or the treatment system. The prototype, consisting of pretreatment units and a reverse osmosis (RO) module, achieved 30–60% treatment efficiencies depending on color intensity and salinity. In dyeing trials with the recovered water, Δ<em>E</em> values (0.16–0.76) remained below the threshold (Δ<em>E</em> &lt; 1), confirming reuse viability. In addition, content analyses of the treated water were performed, and the results confirmed that the recovered water met the necessary quality criteria for reuse in textile dyeing processes. This study demonstrates that data-driven classification significantly optimizes the volume of water requiring treatment compared to non-selective strategies, offering a practical pathway for circular water management in the textile industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":75,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology","volume":" 5","pages":" 1383-1392"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147828402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The combined effects of microplastics and tetracycline on reactor performance and the fate of antibiotic resistance genes during the sludge anaerobic digestion","authors":"YuHui Ma, Yao Chen, ZiYuan Xia, LiNa Pang, ZhaoYong Sun, Min Gou and YueQin Tang","doi":"10.1039/D5EW01123J","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EW01123J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The combined effects of microplastics (MPs) and antibiotics on anaerobic digestion (AD) remain unclear. This study investigated the responses of AD performance, the microbial communities, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) to the co-exposure of individual MP types (PE, PVC, or PS) with tetracycline (TC) in mesophilic and thermophilic sludge reactors. Results indicated that all thermophilic reactors could maintain methane production levels. However, methane production significantly decreased in mesophilic reactors containing MPs, reaching 53.52% to 66.48% of control levels under a TC concentration of 2 mg L<small>⁻¹</small> d<small>⁻¹</small> and 30.37% to 41.83% under 10 mg L<small>⁻¹</small> d<small>⁻¹</small>, potentially due to the suppression of hydrolysis-related bacteria. Metagenomic analysis revealed that thermophilic AD continued to reduce ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) even when TC and MPs were present together. Conversely, the interaction between MPs and TC appeared to enhance the transfer and potential spread of ARGs within mesophilic AD systems. Notably, six out of nine dominant ARGs significantly increased in the PVC reactor under a TC concentration of 10 mg L<small>⁻¹</small> d<small>⁻¹</small>, with tetracycline resistance genes being enriched up to 3.76-fold. Network analysis further suggested that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of ARGs among low-abundance bacteria might be the primary cause of ARG enrichment. These findings highlight that the combined impact of MPs and TC on mesophilic AD warrants greater attention.</p>","PeriodicalId":75,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology","volume":" 4","pages":" 1304-1318"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147588310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nutrients recovery from wastewater using integrated vacuum and direct contact membrane distillation","authors":"A. Tahir, S. Abdelsalam, S. S. Mathew, H. G. Gomaa and M. B. Ray","doi":"10.1039/D5EW01138H","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EW01138H","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Recovery of valuable nutrients such as phosphorus from waste streams is becoming increasingly important due to the limited and constantly depleting resources and increasing consumption. In this research, the potential of using enhanced membrane distillation (MD) system for producing phosphate-rich concentrate and ammonia-water permeate from waste streams is investigated for use in different agricultural and industrial applications. MD is a promising thermally driven technology that can utilize waste and low-quality heat sources as separation driving force. The proposed system involves in-series batch recycle coupling of a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) and vacuum membrane distillation (VMD). The investigation included different coupling configurations as well as both synthetic and real wastewater. Results showed better performance of the coupled system compared to individual units, and that the configuration of the integrated system was important. Dimensionless sensitivity analysis revealed that permeate flux is predominantly governed by feed temperature, followed by flow rate, pH, and concentration, with temperature elasticities an order of magnitude higher than the others. Results of the analytical modeling of the coupling effect using an approximate approach were consistent with the experimental data of this work as well as with data from the literature. An order of magnitude assessment of the specific energy requirement based on using waste and low-cost heat showed that the proposed integrated MD system can be significantly more energy efficient than nanofiltration (NF) for achieving the same phosphate concentration factor (CF).</p>","PeriodicalId":75,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology","volume":" 4","pages":" 1290-1303"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/ew/d5ew01138h?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147588309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ammonia oxidizer adaptation to low dissolved oxygen concentrations for biological nutrient removal – a review on oxygen affinity, dual-substrate limitation, and decay","authors":"Kester McCullough, Charles B. Bott and Peter A. Vanrolleghem","doi":"10.1039/D5EW00844A","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EW00844A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Low dissolved oxygen (DO) operation in suspended growth biological nutrient removal (BNR) systems has become increasingly important for energy-efficient and intensified treatment processes. Novel strategies like continuous low DO, ammonia-based aeration control (ABAC), partial-denitrification anammox (PdNA), and partial-nitritation anammox (PNA) are becoming more commonplace and can drive processes to operate in DO regimes far below conventional norms. Yet nitrification, particularly the first step (ammonia oxidation), must be maintained. This review provides the first comprehensive overview of experimental data on ammonia oxidizer adaptation to low DO, along with analysis on how and why ammonia oxidizer oxygen kinetics respond to these low DO environments. This review examines the available evidence that stable ammonia oxidation at low DO is possible and usually corresponds to a reduction in the estimated ammonia oxidation Monod oxygen half-saturation coefficient (<em>K</em><small>_{O<small>₂</small>}</small>). These changes can arise from intrinsic shifts in microbial community structure (particularly increased comammox <em>Nitrospira</em> (CMX) abundance), from extant factors like floc and microcolony size, or both. Despite evidence for these shifts, the drivers, limits, and durability of kinetic adaptation remain open questions. Also reviewed is the potential interaction of oxygen and substrate affinity, which is poorly understood and infrequently studied, especially under the non-starvation ammonia conditions common in advanced processes. This review also highlights a need to better study ammonia oxidizer decay and decay rate adaptation to low DO. Despite being critical to determining ammonia oxidizer population and thus nitrification capacity, decay kinetics under low DO remain largely unmeasured, mischaracterized, or assumed constant. Existing methods for determining decay are not well suited to capture or characterize the impacts of low DO operation. These findings suggest a necessary shift in practice: ammonia oxidation kinetic parameters, especially <em>K</em><small>_{O<small>₂</small>}</small>, should not be treated as fixed parameters. SRT, DO, substrate concentration, and community structure all interact to drive nitrification performance. This review seeks to provide a comprehensive and systematic review of existing experimental results within each of these domains, with perspective on future research needs and implications for design and operation.</p>","PeriodicalId":75,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology","volume":" 4","pages":" 1062-1078"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/ew/d5ew00844a?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147588314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The pollution load of combined sewer overflows and risks to England's waterbodies: relating event duration monitoring data to discharge consents from wastewater treatment works","authors":"Theodoros Giakoumis and Nikolaos Voulvoulis","doi":"10.1039/D5EW00860C","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EW00860C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The increasing frequency of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) has heightened public concern, triggered government action, and driven water authorities worldwide to commit to major infrastructure upgrades. In England, the installation of event duration monitors (EDMs) has revealed how often and for how long spills occur annually, discharging untreated or diluted sewage to the receiving environment. However, overflow frequency and duration are poor proxies for pollution loads or ecological risk. This study provides the first national estimation of pollution loads from individual CSOs and the risks they pose to receiving waterbodies, drawing on permitted effluent limits from connected wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) and receiving waterbody characteristics. A source–pathway–receptor framework is used to classify risk across England's wastewater systems in relation to CSO discharges and their impacts. The findings challenge the Environment Agency's position that CSOs are not a primary driver of waterbody status failure, indicating their ecological impacts may be underestimated. For 2023, estimated aggregated CSO loads frequently surpassed those from the effluents of their WWTWs, with affected waterbodies receiving loads from CSOs four times higher for BOD and double for suspended solids. While nutrient loads exhibit lower relative contributions, the presence of wastewater systems where CSO loads equal or exceed treated effluent loads demonstrates that nutrient management strategies focusing solely on WWTWs risk overlooking a critical source. The study demonstrates how a systems approach integrating all available data, can strengthen evidence-based policy making, and support water companies in prioritising investments that can deliver measurable environmental improvements.</p>","PeriodicalId":75,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology","volume":" 5","pages":" 1393-1412"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/ew/d5ew00860c?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147828403","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biofilm development, dynamics, and control in a pilot drinking water network with different pipe materials","authors":"Noora Salonen, Kalle Salonen, Marko Suokas and Martti Latva","doi":"10.1039/D5EW00965K","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EW00965K","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Biofilms in premise plumbing systems can decrease the quality of drinking water in several ways. Biofilm removal is possible utilizing disinfectants combined with mechanical cleaning, which can be expensive and challenging to implement in plumbing systems. Thus, alternative methods to control biofilms are needed. This study investigated the effects of hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and magnetic water treatment (MWT), both of which produce nanobubbles, on biofilms in a pilot-scale drinking water network over a 16-month study period. Additionally, the influence of various materials, including copper, stainless steel, and PEX, on biofilms was investigated. A new biofilm-removal tool was developed to detach biofilms from pipes quantitatively. Biofilms were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. PEX promoted significantly higher biofilm growth than metallic materials throughout the sampling period. HC and MWT showed slight effects on biofilm growth in PEX pipes, enhancing growth in young biofilms and inhibiting growth in older biofilms. Biofilm quantities varied across time points due to seasonal fluctuations in water temperature, highlighting the dynamic nature of biofilms. According to the sequencing analysis, pipe material was the most significant factor affecting microbial communities. This study provides insight into the effects of various materials and nanobubble-generating treatments on biofilm growth in premise plumbing drinking water pipes. Due to the many variables and multiple effects caused by HC and MWT, further research is still required to understand the impact of nanobubbles on biofilm control.</p>","PeriodicalId":75,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology","volume":" 4","pages":" 1264-1279"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/ew/d5ew00965k?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147588321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"PFAS reduction during biosolids drying correlates to initial moisture content and is accompanied by detection of PFAS in dryer condensate","authors":"Jessica Calteux, Lynne Moss, Rosely Ayala, Aileen Baza, Zhongzhe Liu, Eric Redman, Taryn McKnight, Fabrizio Sabba, Leon Downing and Patrick McNamara","doi":"10.1039/D5EW01120E","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EW01120E","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Land application of biosolids has come under scrutiny for its potential to convey PFAS. Some water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) have been forced to choose between implementing more extensive biosolids treatment technologies to achieve regulatory limits or altering their biosolids handling approach. Many novel biosolids treatments for PFAS removal include advanced thermal processes such as pyrolysis or gasification. Such processes require drying of biosolids as a preparatory step for treatment. However, little is known about the isolated impact of biosolids drying on the removal of PFAS from biosolids, or what fate PFAS may undergo during the drying process. The objective of this research was to elucidate how biosolids' PFAS profiles change due to drying, and to understand if PFAS can be transported with the gaseous vapor phase into liquid condensate. Biosolids were collected from five WRRFs and dried in a lab-scale oven. Additionally, biosolids from one of the WRRFs were dried in a system that captured and condensed vapor in a methanol impinger. Analysis of the PFAS profiles of the biosolids before and after drying indicated an average of 58% reduction in detectable PFAS across all sites, with the range being 43–74%. A positive correlation was established between the initial moisture content of the biosolids and reduction in detectable PFAS (<em>R</em><small>²</small> = 0.61). The condensate contained 12–22% of the initial PFAS from the wet biosolids, indicating that PFAS can leave with the gas-phase vapor generated during drying. This research supports the conclusion that biosolids drying can reduce detectable concentrations of PFAS, and operational parameters could be adjusted to optimize dryers for this purpose. Treatment technologies could then be applied to the condensate to destroy the PFAS contained therein.</p>","PeriodicalId":75,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology","volume":" 4","pages":" 1105-1115"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/ew/d5ew01120e?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147588301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Full-scale hybrid membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) upgrade enhances the removal of organic micropollutants","authors":"Narasimman Lakshminarasimman, Sondus Jamal, Leslie Bragg, Mark Servos and Wayne Parker","doi":"10.1039/D5EW01208B","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EW01208B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Hybrid membrane aerated biofilm reactors (MABRs) integrate a range of redox conditions with increased biomass residence times in biofilms to create conditions that are expected to enhance the removal of organic micropollutants (OMPs). However, the removal of OMPs with MABRs remains unexplored. This study monitored the behavior of 20 OMPs over multiple seasons, both before and after the upgrade of a full-scale conventional activated sludge (CAS) facility to a hybrid MABR. More than half of the target compounds (13 out of 20) were present at lower concentrations in the effluent after MABR addition when compared to pre-upgrade operation. Plantwide removal efficiencies of highly removable compounds (&gt;75%) (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, triclosan, triclocarban, and norfluoxetine) and the recalcitrant carbamazepine were not impacted by the addition of the MABR process. However, the removal of three endocrine disruptors (bisphenol A, estrone, and estradiol) improved from a moderate removal (25 to 75%) to a high removal. Further, removal of an additional seven pharmaceuticals (gemfibrozil, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, diclofenac, atorvastatin, and its <em>ortho</em>-hydroxy metabolites) improved from poor (&lt;25%) to high or moderate removal with the hybrid MABR/CAS configuration. After the MABR upgrade, it was found that six OMPs exhibited higher removal rates under warm weather conditions (19.3 ± 1.6 °C) compared to cold weather conditions (13 ± 1.2 °C). Mass balance analysis on the MABR alone revealed a broad range of compound-specific responses, such as complete biotransformation (acetaminophen), partial removal (naproxen), and potential transformation from conjugates (sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine). Overall, the three-year monitoring of the full-scale facility before and after the upgrade revealed that upgrading the CAS to a hybrid MABR configuration can enhance the removal of some OMPs that are poorly removed by the CAS process alone.</p>","PeriodicalId":75,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology","volume":" 4","pages":" 1249-1263"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/ew/d5ew01208b?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147588320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Performance restoration of membranes degraded by fouling and wetting in membrane distillation","authors":"Joowan Lim, Seung Mo Kang, Chanyoung Kim, Dowon Chae, Hosung Lee, Sangho Lee, June-Seok Choi and Pyung-Kyu Park","doi":"10.1039/D6EW00053C","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D6EW00053C","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Membrane distillation (MD) is a promising technology for desalination due to its ability to produce high-purity water using low-grade or waste energy. However, despite its potential, MD still faces challenges such as membrane fouling and wetting, necessitating continued research and development. In this study, restoration protocols were developed and evaluated at different stages of CaSO<small>₄</small> – induced fouling and wetting in a lab-scale direct contact MD system. During the early stage of fouling, flushing with deionized water restored membrane performance without noticeable difficulty. However, when fouling progressed to the point immediately before a significant decline in distillate flux, complete recovery of both distillate flux and cumulative volume was achieved only through cleaning using high concentration of citric acid. At the stage of severe fouling and complete pore wetting, even strong acid cleaning was unable to fully restore membrane performance. In addition, when the fouling layer was allowed to dry prior to cleaning, the effectiveness of citric acid cleaning was substantially reduced, even when the cleaning was applied before the onset of severe fouling. These findings emphasize the importance of timely chemical cleaning before advanced fouling or membrane drying occurs in order to maintain stable long-term performance in MD operations.</p>","PeriodicalId":75,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology","volume":" 4","pages":" 1319-1330"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/ew/d6ew00053c?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147588311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}