Home Sweet Home: Setting the Best Thriving Conditions for the Ad Hoc Engineered Microbial Consortium in the Zero Mile System

Annamaria Alabiso, Sara Frasca, Matteo Bartolini, Roberta Congestri, Marco Maria D’Andrea, Giorgio Buratti, Fiammetta Costa, Matteo Meraviglia, Attilio Nebuloni and Luciana Migliore ()
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Annamaria Alabiso: Ph.D. Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Sara Frasca: Ph.D. Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Matteo Bartolini: Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Roberta Congestri: Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Marco Maria D’Andrea: Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Giorgio Buratti: Department of Design, Polytechnic of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
Fiammetta Costa: Department of Design, Polytechnic of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
Matteo Meraviglia: Department of Design, Polytechnic of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
Attilio Nebuloni: Department of Design, Polytechnic of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
Luciana Migliore: Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: Wastewaters from household appliances, such as dishwashers and washing machines, are an untapped resource of recoverable water and/or nutrients. The Zero Mile system has been developed to reuse/upcycle dishwasher wastewaters through bioremediation activity carried out by an ad hoc engineered phototrophic/heterotrophic microbial consortium. The choice of both suitable microorganisms for engineering consortia and detailed knowledge on their structure, behaviour and interaction are essential to optimising consortium culture conditions and drive the biofilter container design (structure and topology). To these aims, the effect of abiotic conditions (i.e., irradiance, pH and organic load) on the microbial consortium growth and its capability to survive and thrive in different dishwasher wastewater dilutions have been evaluated. At the same time, the crucial interplay between biological and design research has allowed us to define the characteristics of the biofilter container and plan its development for the industrial application of the Zero Mile system, bringing sustainability benefits as it moves household wastewater from a traditional linear model to a more sustainable, circular approach.

Keywords: autotrophic and heterotrophic biofilter; consortium taxonomic composition; consortium culture condition; wastewater upcycling; research through design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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