The present research focuses on the application of peanut and walnut shells, in their natural state, for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from water solutions in batch and dynamic (flow-through) conditions. Under batch conditions, at a 100 mg/L MB concentration of aqueous solution, the optimum dose of the studied biosorbents was determined to be 2.5 g/L, reaching about 95–97% efficiency of MB removal for both materials. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were used to model and evaluate the experimental data under different initial concentrations of MB (25 to 100 mg/L). The determined maximum adsorption capacities are 41.50 mg/g for walnut shells and 46.80 mg/g for peanut shells. Under flow-through conditions, breakthrough curves are determined for three sizes of fractions (<0.25 mm, 0.315–0.5 mm, and 0.8–1.6 mm). For peanut shells, the smaller the particle size, the higher the adsorption capacity and the column breakthrough time. For walnut shells, however, the particle size seems to have a more complex influence on the adsorption process parameters, and this phenomenon deserves future investigation. The adsorption capacity for one and the same fraction size of 0.315–0.5 mm and initial MB concentration of 50 mg/L is higher under dynamic flow conditions, i.e., 51 mg/g compared to 20 mg/g for walnut shells and 46 mg/g compared to 17.5 mg/g for peanut shells.

Urban water systems are still in their infancy regarding the transition toward a circular economy, despite the sporadic successful examples worldwide. This paper was aimed at analyzing the preparedness of four water utilities in Bulgaria for the implementation of circular economy principles and solutions. These utilities provide water supply and sewerage services to about 30% of the population in Bulgaria. SWOT analysis was used as a core tool. Publicly available data such as nonrevenue water, pressure management, energy demand, network digitalization, and sludge utilization were used to explore the internal factors. The external environment was considered through the legislative and socioeconomic framework, climate change, etc. Finally, the credibility of the conclusions was verified in workshops with the water utilities. The key positive outcomes were that the external factors favor the shift to circular systems, while the major weakness, i.e., the aged infrastructure, is actually a good opportunity for the implementation of modern and circular solutions. The efficient collaboration of water utilities with other actors is a precondition for the development of a sustainable market for “circular” products.

This study aims to propose a practical indicator that enables quick and reliable evaluation of the relationship between influent characteristics and energy performance and recovery in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). A composite Wastewater Strength Indicator (WWSI) was developed, integrating wastewater dilution and pollutant load into a single metric. Theoretical correlations were established through mathematical estimation and verified using case studies of six WWTPs in Bulgaria based on operational data from 2020–2022. WWSI correlates strongly with both specific energy consumption (kWh/kg COD removed) and electrical energy recovery rate. WWTPs with a WWSI below 0.25 perform unsatisfactory, exhibiting specific energy consumption levels above 2.0 kWh/kg removed COD, whereas those with a WWSI above 0.35 demonstrate higher energy efficiency, with specific consumption below 1.0 kWh/kg removed COD. The treatment of low-strength wastewater leads to inherent energy inefficiencies that are difficult to overcome through sludge digestion and cogeneration alone. Despite sludge calorific values ranging from 11.5 to 19.4 MJ/kg, the energy recovery potential in the studied WWTPs remained below 35%, confirming that energy neutrality is challenging for diluted wastewater. A conversion coefficient of 0.039 kWh/MJ was introduced to facilitate rapid estimation of potential electrical recovery from sludge calorific values. The proposed WWSI provides a simple yet effective tool for benchmarking WWTPs and supports future upgrades toward energy-neutral wastewater management.