Activated sludge microbiomes are likely to aid the world’s growing population in efforts to keep up with the demand for clean water. The Global Water Microbiome Consortium has released results of a study that yields new insights into how microbiome engineering can be applied to development of next-generation wastewater treatment and water reuse systems. ASU’s Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, directed by Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittmann, participated in the project. Researchers completed an “unprecedented global sampling” that provides significant new knowledge about the microbiology of activated sludge, Rittmann says.

See Also: Bacterial communities for wastewater treatment system, Science Daily, May 13, and a report on ASU NOW