Abstract
Bioelectrochemical sensors for environment monitoring have the potential to provide facility operators with real-time data, allowing for better and more timely decision-making regarding water and wastewater treatment. To assess the robustness and sensitivity of the Sentry™ biosensor in local conditions, it was tested in Malaysia using domestically available wastewater. The study objectives included (1) enrich the biosensor locally, (2) operate and test the biosensor with local domestic wastewater, and (3) determine the biosensor’s responsiveness to model pollutants through pollutant spike and immersion test as well as response to absence of wastewater. Lab-scale operation shows the biosensor was successfully enriched with (1) local University Kebangsaan Malaysia’s, microbial community strain collection and (2) local municipal wastewater microflora, operated for more than 50 days with a stable yet responsive carbon consumption rate (CCR) signal. Meanwhile, two independent biosensors were also enriched and operated in Indah Water Research Centre’s crude sewage holding tank, showing a stable response to the wastewater. Next, a pilot scale setup was constructed to test the enriched biosensors for the spiked-pollutant test. The biosensors showed a proportional CCR response (pollutant presence detected) towards several organic compounds in the sewage, including ethanol, chicken blood, and dilution of tested sewage but less to curry powder, methanol, and isopropanol. Conversely, there was no significant response (pollutant presence not detected) towards hexane, Congo red, engine oil, and paint, which may be due to their non-biodegradability and/or insoluble nature. Additionally, the biosensors were exposed to air for 6 h to assess their robustness towards aerobic shock with a positive result. Overall, the study suggested that the biosensor could be a powerful monitoring tool, given its responsiveness towards organic compounds in sewage under normal conditions.
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for the matching fund (DPK-2021-015) allocation in conjunction with the Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd’s funding support (KK-2021-012) and SENTRY™ Water Technologies Inc. for providing biosensors and technical support to conduct the study.
Funding
This work was supported by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Indah Water Research Centre (Grant numbers DPK-2021–015 and KK-2021–012).
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Swee Su Lim set up the experiments and planned the testing procedures. Muhammad Farhan Hil Me conducted the experiments with Bee Chin Khor, Ahmad Afiq Arshad Nasharuddin, and Alijah Mohd Aris's supports. Ang Wei Lun analysed the data and results and drafted the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript and provided suggestions to improve the final version of the manuscript.
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Me, M.F.H., Ang, W.L., Othman, A.R. et al. Assessment of the microbial electrochemical sensor (SENTRY™) as a potential wastewater quality monitoring tool for common pollutants found in Malaysia. Environ Monit Assess 196, 366 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12526-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12526-0