Water is life, and clean-water demand is increasing daily as a result of rapid population growth and industrial evolution. Nevertheless, due to the inadequate supply and availability of new water sources, there is a need for effective, sustainable removal of contaminants for wastewater reuse. Several treatment approaches that include chemical, physical, and biological methods have been thoroughly tested, with biological treatment being regarded as the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly method. However, the presence of heavy metals and complicated chemicals that are nonbiodegradable limits the use of this cost-effective approach. In this paper, we review the sustainable application of a cheap, water-stable metal-organic framework, the zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8), with an easier synthesis approach for heavy-metal removal in aqueous solutions. In this review, we discuss the removal efficiency in terms of adsorption capacity, describe the underlying mechanism behind the adsorption capacity of ZIF-8, present a sustainable synthesis approach, and make vital suggestions to aid in the future application of ZIF-8 for the removal of heavy metals.

Organic pollution is a significant challenge in environmental protection, especially the discharge of refractory organic pollutants in chemical production and domestic use. The biological treatment method of traditional sewage treatment plants cannot degrade such pollutants, which leads to the continuous transfer of these pollutants into the water environment. Therefore, it is necessary to study clean and efficient advanced treatment technologies to degrade organic pollutants. The ozone/UV advanced oxidation process (O₃/UV) has attracted extensive attention. This paper summarizes the reaction mechanism of O₃/UV and analyzes its application progress in industrial wastewater, trace polluted organic matter and drinking water. The existing research results show that this technology has an excellent performance in the degradation of organic pollutants and has the characteristics of clean and environmental protection. In addition, the control of bromate formation and its economy is evaluated, and its operating characteristics and current application scope are summarized, which has a practical reference value for the follow-up in-depth study of the O₃/UV process.

Nowadays, antibiotics are widely used, increasing the risk of contamination of the water body and further threatening human health. The traditional water treatment process is less efficient in degrading antibiotics, and the advanced oxidation process (AOPs) is cleaner and more efficient than the traditional biochemical degradation process. The combined ozone/peroxymonosulfate (PMS) advanced oxidation process (O₃/PMS) based on sulfate radical (SO₄^•−) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) has developed rapidly in recent years. The O₃/PMS process has become one of the most effective ways to treat antibiotic wastewater. The reaction mechanism of O₃/PMS was reviewed in this paper, and the research and application progress of the O₃/PMS process in the degradation of antibiotics in drinking water and wastewater effluent were evaluated. The operation characteristics and current application range of the process were summarized, which has a certain reference value for further research on O₃/PMS process.

Biochar (BC) is a new type of carbon material with a high specific surface area, porous structure, and good adsorption capacity, which can effectively adsorb and enrich organic pollutants. Meanwhile, nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) has excellent catalytic activity and can rapidly degrade organic pollutants through reduction and oxidation reactions. The combined utilization of BC and nZVI can not only give full play to their advantages in the adsorption and catalytic degradation of organic pollutants, but also help to reduce the agglomeration of nZVI, thus improving its efficiency in water treatment and providing strong technical support for water resources protection and environmental quality improvement. This article provides a detailed introduction to the preparation method and characterization technology, reaction mechanism, influencing factors, and specific applications of BC and nZVI, and elaborates on the research progress of BC-nZVI in activating persulfate (PS) to degrade organic pollutants in water. It has been proven experimentally that BC-nZVI can effectively remove phenols, dyes, pesticides, and other organic pollutants. Meanwhile, in response to the existing problems in current research, this article proposes future research directions and challenges, and summarizes the application prospects and development trends of BC-nZVI in water treatment. In summary, BC-nZVI-activated PS is an efficient technology for degrading organic pollutants in water, providing an effective solution for protecting water resources and improving environmental quality, and has significant application value.

The combined disinfection process of ultraviolet and sodium hypochlorite has more advantages than the single disinfection method in reducing the disinfectant dosage, shortening the reaction time, and resisting the impact of water quality changes and inhibiting the light reactivation of microorganisms. Given this, using the secondary effluent of a sewage plant as the research object, the disinfection efficiency of the combined process of ultraviolet and sodium hypochlorite was investigated. The experimental results showed that the inactivation effect of UV followed by sodium hypochlorite on fecal coliform and the inhibition of microbial photoreactivation was more significant than that of simultaneous disinfection of UV and sodium hypochlorite disinfection. When the UV dose was 24 mJ/cm², after disinfection with UV followed by sodium hypochlorite, only 1 mg/L of sodium hypochlorite was required to be added, and a contact reaction time of 1 min for the fecal coliform index to meet the first-Class A emission standard. After disinfection, the effluent’s maximum reactivation rate of fecal coliform was 26.96%. However, the simultaneous disinfection of ultraviolet and sodium hypochlorite required the addition of 3 mg/L of sodium hypochlorite. After disinfection, the maximum reactivation rate of the fecal coliform group reached 30.81%.

Antibiotics are a new class of organic compounds that have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects in the clinic, but their widespread use has serious adverse effects on the natural water environment. Sulfadiazine (SDZ) is a typical kind of antibiotic, and the treatment effect of the traditional biochemical degradation process has not been ideal. Thus, in order to find a more efficient and clean degradation method, we investigated the degradation effect of ozone/persulfate (O₃/PMS) advanced oxidation process (AOPs) on SDZ in prepared water and natural water for the first time and compared it with the experimental results of ozone (O₃) and ozone/ultraviolet (O₃/UV) methods. The experimental results showed that when the initial mass concentration of O₃ was 3 mg/L, the initial mass concentration of SDZ was 10 mg/L, the temperature was 25 °C, the pH was 6.8 ± 0.1, the K_obs of O₃/PMS was 0.2497 min⁻¹, and the K_obs values of O₃ and O₃/UV were 0.1242 and 0.1328 min⁻¹, respectively. The time required for O₃/PMS to degrade SDZ below the detection limit (0.01 mg/L) was about 7 min shorter than that of O₃ and O₃/UV. It was found that in O₃/PMS, the increase in the initial mass concentration of SDZ inhibited its degradation, and the increase in the initial mass concentration of ozone increased the degradation rate of sulfadiazine. The degradation process conformed to the pseudo-first-order reaction kinetic equation. O₃/PMS was suitable for weak alkaline environments. When pH was 9, the concentration of free radicals was the highest. Excessive alkalinity led to mutual quenching of free radicals and reduced the degradation rate. The mineralization effect of O₃/PMS was slightly worse than that of the O₃/UV process, but O₃/PMS effectively degraded SDZ and fluorescent substances dissolved in water, with good prospects in practical engineering applications.