Micropollutants, an array of organic compounds such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and agrochemicals, are pervasive in contemporary ecosystems, posing significant threats to environmental health even in trace concentrations. Therefore, exploring an efficient and effective technique to remediate these pollutants is essential. Nitrification–denitrification (ND) have emerged as one of the most sustainable treatment methods that effectively mitigate micropollutants while facilitating their biotransformation. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the intricate interactions fundamentally and mechanically between the ND process and the influencing factors, such as dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and pH optimization, which are vital to the success of micropollutant biotransformation. Insights gained from this examination contribute to a deeper understanding of microbial strategies, which offer potential avenues for sustainable environmental management and the protection of ecosystem integrity.

Tribolium confusum is one of the most common pests of many commodities, especially cereals and their products. These pests are known for being the most destructive insect pests attacking and infesting stored flour and grain in soil, warehouses, grocery stores, and homes. Therefore, this study aims to control these pests with an environmentally friendly, healthier, and cost-effective pesticide instead of the common artificial chemicals to practice the current management of cereal storage pest control in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. For this to be achieved, the toxicity effect of crude plant extracts from five different parts of Melia azedarach in tap water with concentrations of 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, and 90% at different times (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 h) against stored-product insect was tested. The toxicity effect of these extracts varied based on the crude plant part extracts, concentrations, and exposure period according to the SAS system investigation on the mortality rate of T. confusum adults (Duncan test). The extracts’ compatibility with treated adults of T. confusum in the clear petri dish was noted. Besides, the number of dead adults was measured by loss of motion.

Although the structure-activity relationship indicates that the 4-thioxoimidazolidin ring is essential for antibacterial activities and pharmaceutical applications, there were no enough studies on the derivatives of this compound. Evaluating the new hydantoin compounds C5 (3-((2-bromobenzylidene) amino)-2- thioxoimidazolidin-4-one) and C6 (3-((4- methoxybenzylidene) amino)-2-thioxoimidazolidin-4-one) that were prepared against clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates for antibacterial, antibiofilm, and antihemagglutination activities is the aim of this study. Therefore, the potential clinical resistance of the strains was evaluated by their ability to form biofilms, antibiotic resistance, and agglutinate erythrocytes macroscopically and microscopically; besides, the bacterial biofilm was screened for any association with the patients serum immunoglobulin levels and complements. Despite the effective concentration for C5 and C6 compounds, which is31.25μg/ml, the reduction rate is not concentration-dependent; it depends on the molecular docking of the hydantoin compounds. Hence, the effect of the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) is variable. In this study, the results for the compounds (with the concentration of 31.2562.5μg/mL for C5 and 62.5125μg/mL for C6) significantly manifest the antibacteria, antibiofilm, and antihemagglutination effects against the virulent strains of S. aureus due to the high percentage of biofilm inhibition that was caused by the new hydantoin compounds. Besides, time-kill kinetics studies showed that these compounds pose bactericidal action. Overall, this study revealed that the new hydantoin derivatives have an interesting potential as new antibacterial drugs through the inhibition of bacterial adhesion. The infections of these isolates activate the complement system through the lectin pathway. Nevertheless, these compounds can be improved in order to be used at even lower concentrations.

Recently, bottled water consumption has been increasing significantly, even when the quality of tap water is considered excellent, which contributes to plastic pollution. Besides, reducing the use of plastic generally is recommended world widely, as its consumption is in an alarming rate. Therefore, this study aims to compare the tap and bottled water and manifest the reasons behind choosing the bottled water, which is less comfortable and often more expensive over the tap water. In this study, samples have been taken from both bottled and tap water in Koya city from November 2020 to May 2021 to test their quality using PH, DO, EC, and TDS meter, hardness was determined by complexometric titration method at 21°C, and XRF spectrometers. According to the quality standards, most of the variables were in a permissible range, except for dissolved oxygen and Aluminum content in both types of water and TDS for two types of bottled water. However, the quality of tap water was much safer to be used, as compared with the bottled water.

This study presents a novel integrated modification of the Sequencing Batch Reactor (MSBR), combining the operational flexibility of conventional SBRs with the biomass retention and stability of a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) through the incorporation of an upstream equalisation tank containing floating media and diffusers. The performance of the MSBR was evaluated against a conventional SBR and an MBBR under identical operating conditions. Over a 12-month monitoring period, influent and effluent samples were analysed for 25 physicochemical parameters representing organic load, nutrient dynamics, physical water quality, and mineral or trace element composition. Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics version 25. The MSBR consistently achieved the highest treatment performance. COD and BOD removal efficiencies reached 92.2% and 92.4%, compared with 88.5% and 88.7% in the MBBR and 82.6% and 82.9% in the SBR. Total nitrogen reduction was also higher in the MSBR (91.1%) than in the MBBR (79.9%) and SBR (85.7%), while total phosphorus removal reached 96%, outperforming both the MBBR (79.4%) and the SBR (89.5%). Sulfate removal remained moderate across all systems (MBBR 65.8%, MSBR 64.9%, SBR 57.1%). Although the SBR showed slightly higher oil and grease removal (83.4%), this marginal difference is outweighed by the MSBR’s superior nutrient and organic matter removal. Seasonal and monthly analyses confirmed the operational robustness of the MSBR. Overall, the results demonstrate that the integrated MSBR is a reliable and superior alternative for sustainable domestic wastewater treatment.

Freshwater resources are on the verge of depletion due to the rapid increase in population, lifestyle changes, and especially during climate change in Iraq. Therefore, treating domestic wastewater correctly will significantly contribute to keeping the balance of water purity and its usage. To fulfil this, the Sustainable Project Appraisal Routine (SPeAR^TM) program, which leverages Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis with operational sustainability indicators, is used to compare the relative sustainability performance of the novel Modified Sequencing Batch Reactor by visualising the results of the degree of its sustainability compared to the Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor and the conventional Sequencing Batch Reactor system. Although selecting the most sustainable treatment depends on specific treatment goals, available resources, site conditions, and stakeholder preferences, this study considers the equal weighting of sustainability assessment across environmental, social, and economic indices to inform sustainable decision making. The results show that integrating both conventional treatment plants into the novel modified treatment plant demonstrates a comparatively more balanced and stable sustainability performance under the assessed operational conditions. As at a design capacity of 100 m³·day⁻¹, the MSBR achieved a higher organic and nutrient removal efficiencies relative to the conventional SBR and MBBR systems while operating at an intermediate energy demand (187.7 kWh·day⁻¹) compared with the SBR (121.7 kWh·day⁻¹) and the MBBR (211.8 kWh·day⁻¹). Thus, it can compensate for the weaknesses and combines the strengths of the sustainability indices of the two systems, which supports the Modified Sequencing Batch Reactor as a comparatively favourable option for wastewater treatment within the assessed sustainability framework.