Multimedia systems for training in wastewater treatment: literature review

Abstract Wastewater treatment (WWT) is central to sustainable water management and environmental protection. At the same time, the sector’s ongoing digital transformation is increasing technical complexity and reshaping the competency profiles required of engineers, technicians, and plant operators. While digital technologies have been widely developed to support monitoring, control, and optimization of wastewater treatment plants, their systematic use for education, training, and workforce development remains insufficiently consolidated in the literature. This study presents a systematic review of peer-reviewed publications from 2020 to April 2025 addressing the use of digital technologies and multimedia systems for WWT education, professional training, and knowledge transfer. Following established systematic review guidelines, the analysis examines (i) the types of digital and multimedia tools reported, (ii) how these tools are integrated into training-oriented educational approaches, and (iii) the available evidence regarding educational outcomes. The findings reveal a pronounced asymmetry: operational digitalization advances rapidly, whereas explicitly instructional interventions remain comparatively scarce and are often weakly articulated from a pedagogical perspective. Reported evaluations primarily emphasize usability, user perceptions, and engagement, while rigorous assessments of learning outcomes, skill development, and readiness for professional practice are limited. Overall, the results indicate that the main barrier to leveraging digital tools for WWT education is not technological but pedagogical. This review clarifies the distinction between operation-oriented and training-oriented digitalization, synthesizes methodological gaps, and outlines directions for designing and evaluating effective digital learning strategies in the water sector.