Preface

Rapid population growth and industrialization in emerging countries are contributing to substantial stress on freshwater resources and degrading water quality. Increased pollution of water resources and the reduction of clean water are becoming serious problems. The co-editors would like to articulate their sincere appreciation to the generous number of authors from all over the world for contributing their appropriately distinguished quality work and revising it appropriately at short notice.

This book addresses technologies that are employed in water treatment and decontamination. Researchers in this field directly support the subject as an issue related to liquid/liquid and liquids/solids separations. The book discusses technologies related to pollution control tools that are based upon chemical, biological, and physical techniques of treating and purifying wastewaters. It presents novel and innovative methods for water and wastewater treatment and water reuse. The methods include physical/chemical, physical/biological, and advanced adsorption, absorbance, and oxidation processes tailored to improve the performance of the treatment methods. The book also includes chapters illustrating treatment approaches for the recent pollution of complex toxic materials, organic constituents, nutrients, and emerging micropollutants in numerous water resources. The wastewater treatment methods are defined by the current advanced technologies for water and wastewater treatment and reuse such as membrane separation processes, ozone oxidation, coagulation using flocculation-coagulants, and biological nutrient removal. In this book, the application of the microwave-assisted H2O2 digestions process to treat hazardous sludge has also been addressed. The technique of advanced ozone oxidative process is also investigated for the treatment of biohazardous wastewater.

Membrane technology comprises recent advancements in the removal of challenging substances. Other topics addressed in the book include a downflow hanging sponge system, a self-sustaining option for wastewater treatment, as well as water quality parameters and monitoring and index development approaches.

The co-editors would like to express their sincere appreciation to the authors for contributing their high-quality work.

**Iqbal Ahmed Moujdin, Ph.D.**

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Center of Excellence in Desalination Technology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

> **J. Kevin Summers, Ph.D.** Center for Measurement and Modeling, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, United States

Section 1 Adsorption
