Enhanced ability of 3D-printed bricks to treat wastewater under variable conditions

Wathsala Benthota Pathiranage; Chloe Sharp; Cecylia Williams; Anna McKnight; Omar Algharibeh; Yinshan Hong; Clinton Williams; Grace Rushing; Hunain Alkhateb; Matteo D'Alessio

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125690

Enhanced ability of 3D-printed bricks to treat wastewater under variable conditions

J Environ Manage. 2025 Jun:386:125690. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125690. Epub 2025 May 14.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, University of Mississippi, Carrier Hall, University, 38677, MS, USA.
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, 12180-3590, NY, USA.
³ Wastewater Treatment Plant, Facility Management, University of Mississippi, University, 38677, MS, USA.
⁴ Department of Civil Engineering, University of Mississippi, Carrier Hall, University, 38677, MS, USA; Center for Graphene Research and Innovation, University of Mississippi, University, 38677, MS, USA.
⁵ Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University, B.S. Hood Road, Mississippi State, 39762, USA.
⁶ Agricultural Research Service US Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center, Maricopa, 85138, AZ, USA.
⁷ Department of Civil Engineering, University of Mississippi, Carrier Hall, University, 38677, MS, USA; Center for Graphene Research and Innovation, University of Mississippi, University, 38677, MS, USA. Electronic address: matteo@olemiss.edu.

PMID: 40373440
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125690

Abstract

This study explores a sustainable and affordable approach to wastewater treatment by combining traditional slow sand filtration with 3D-printed bricks made from clay or a clay-crawfish shell composite. Building on the findings from a preliminary study using pre-UV treated wastewater as the influent, the current study implemented stress tests to assess how effectively and quickly the reactors could respond to sudden changes in influent composition potentially occurring in the presence of a spill, a malfunctioning treatment plant, and or in rural and underserved communities. Three stress tests (feed water: 50 % raw wastewater and 50 % pre-UV treated wastewater; average duration of each stress test: 2 d) followed by three recovery phases referred to baseline tests (feed water: 100 % pre-UV treated wastewater; average duration of each recovery phase: 5 d) were conducted using three reactors: 1) a reactor with composite bricks (90 % clay and 10 % crawfish shell waste by weight) and sand, 2) a reactor with clay bricks and sand, and 3) a reactor with only sand (control). The reactors' performance was evaluated in terms of turbidity, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Organic Carbon (TOC), total coliforms, E. coli, and 46 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). While turbidity removal efficiency remained stable throughout the study (∼90 %), higher COD and TOC removal efficiency were achieved during the stress tests (∼50 % and ∼80 %, respectively) compared to the baseline tests (∼40 % and ∼45 %, respectively), across the three systems. The crawfish reactor enhanced the removal of total coliforms and E. coli towards the end of the study. Among the detected CECs, fluoxetine, ketoconazole and miconazole were completely removed regardless of the nature of the reactor (clay bricks vs. clay and crawfish bricks vs. control). Enhanced removal in terms of trimethoprim (+6 %) was achieved in the presence of the reactor with clay bricks, while enhanced removal of labetalol (+22 %), iohexol (+31 %), lidocaine (+21 %), and carbamazepine (+20) was achieved in the presence of clay and crawfish bricks. Regarding the analytes' removal, there was no statistical difference among the three reactors, except for carbamazepine, which was significantly higher in the crawfish brick reactor compared to the clay brick reactor (p = 0.01) and the control (p = 0.02).

Keywords: 3D printed bricks; Adsorption; Contaminants of emerging concern; Crawfish waste; Stress tests; Water reuse.

MeSH terms

Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis
Printing, Three-Dimensional*
Waste Disposal, Fluid* / methods
Wastewater* / chemistry
Water Purification* / methods

Substances

Wastewater