ABSTRACT
Water shortage has been recognized as a risk to human activity, likely to continue in the future.As a result, global interest in water filtration technology is on the rise. Even though nanotechnology has countless uses in various fields, their application in water and wastewater treatment is only getting started. Many scientists and researchers have been performing various investigations and experiments on the applications of engineered nanomaterials. Rapid industrialization, worldwide population growth, climate change and urbanization contribute significantly to creating wastewater (contaminated with heavy metal ions, organic and inorganic solutes, and microorganisms) which is discharged into water bodies, untreated, resulting in surface and groundwater pollution. Wastewater treatment can be a viable method of reducing global water pollution and ensuring a safe drinking water supply. Nanotechnology has enormous wastewater treatment and purification potential –far superior to the currently available commercial alternatives. Traditional wastewater treatment is expensive and involves heavy metals. The use of nanoparticles to purify wastewater is a relatively new concept, which is flexible, highly efficient and cost-effective.Nanobiotechnology (NBT) holds a lot of promise in treating wastewater. Nanomaterials used for wastewater treatment, purification and disinfection, including nanoadsorbents, nanometals, nanomembranes, nanocatalysts and bioactive materials, have been discussed in this chapter. Nanomaterials can eliminate contaminants and microorganisms as stand-alone cleaning agents or by incorporating them into biological membranes and combining them with traditional treatment methods. This chapter covers the potential applications of NBT in wastewater treatment and water purification, along with the antibacterial properties of different nanomaterials, and their present and future perspectives.
