Revolutionizing wastewater treatment toward circular economy and carbon neutrality goals: Pioneering sustainable and efficient solutions for automation and advanced process control with smart and cutting-edge technologies

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play a crucial role in ensuring a safe environment by effectively removing contaminants and minimizing pollutant discharges. Compliance with stringent regulations and the search for sustainable treatment processes pose new challenges and provide opportunities for innovative solutions. These solutions include using wastewater as a resource to recover value-added by-products, such as clean water, renewable energy, and nutrients, while optimizing energy consumption and reducing operating costs without compromising treatment performance. To drive continuous innovation in wastewater treatment, the integration of advanced treatment technologies with robust monitoring and control systems is imperative. This review explores advancements in automation and advanced process control within WWTPs. In this context, technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, robotics, drones, virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR), and digital twin are identified as promising tools for developing innovative, smart, and efficient monitoring and control systems. While the integration of these tools offers many benefits, further research is essential to optimize their performance and cost-effectiveness. A detailed overview of the current and future applications of these advanced tools and smart systems is provided, emphasizing their strengths, limitations, and opportunities for future research and improvements.