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The establishment of industrial-scale, clean water technologies in the mid-late 19th century caused a notable reduction (~15%) in disease-related mortality. However, exponential human population growth over the last 50 years has created severe additional challenges, including deteriorating fresh and marine water environments, which are the primary recipients of wastewater discharges. Increasingly complex contemporary requirements for environmental regulation, energy efficiency, enhanced nutrient and water recovery, public health risk management, and urban sustainability necessitate better understanding and control of the key biological processes that drive current and future clean water technologies. While insights into the microbiological make-up of the functional community of these critical bioprocesses have started to emerge, a greatly enhanced understanding of the mechanisms by which floccular biofilm communities perform specific transformations, including the degradation of complex organic materials and sequestration of nutrients is still required. |