Modern Biotechnologies for Wastewater Treatment

CE 59700

Credit Hours:

1

Instructor:

Zhi Zhou

Audience:

This course is designed for graduate students and working professionals who would like to learn modern biotechnologies in wastewater treatment and how to apply these biotechnologies to understand, characterize, and optimize wastewater treatment systems and plants.

Course Description:

The objectives of this course are to introduce modern biotechnologies and their applications in biological wastewater treatment and prepares students for understanding, characterizing, and optimizing wastewater treatment systems. The major topics include fundamentals of microbiology, stoichiometry and microbial metabolism, membrane treatment systems and biofouling, molecular microbiology tools, antibiotic resistance, and viruses.

Course Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this course, students are expected to:

  • understand modern biotechnologies and their applications in wastewater treatment,
  • select appropriate biotechniques to understand, characterize, and optimize wastewater treatment systems,
  • assess public health risks associated with antibiotic resistant bacteria and viruses in wastewater.

Weekly Outline:

Week 1:

  • Introduction of Microbiology
  • Fields of Microbiology
  • Microbe Types and Metabolic Lifestyles

Week 2:

  • Electron Donor and Acceptor
  • Stoichiometry and Half-reactions
  • Free Energy
  • Cell Synthesis
  • Developing Overall Stoichiometric Equations

Week 3:

  • Membrane Filtration
  • Membrane Filtration Challenges
  • Microbial Aggregation and Biofilm
  • Biofouling and Control

Week 4:

  • Molecular Ecology Study
  • Microbial Community Analysis
  • Activity Assays and FAME
  • Fluorescence in situ Hybridization
  • Molecular Microbiology Tools

Week 5:

  • Antibiotics
  • Antibiotic Resistance
  • Horizontal Gene Transfer
  • Evolution and Selfish Gene
  • Viruses

Prerequisites:

None

Textbooks:

Required textbooks:

  • None

Recommended textbooks: