Aims:  To detect ESBL (extended‐spectrum β‐lactamase)‐producing Klebsiella pneumoniae present in the effluents and sludge of a hospital sewage treatment plant, evaluating the treatment plant’s potential to remove these micro‐organisms. Methods and Results:  Twenty samples (crude sewage, UASB reactor effluent, filtered effluent and sludge) were collected in the period from May to December 2006, in order to analyse antimicrobial susceptibility and to check ESBL production, the disc‐diffusion and the combined disc methods were used. Total and faecal coliform concentrations were also determined. ESBL‐producing K. pneumoniae were detected in all samples analysed, representing 46·5% of the total strains isolated. Among the non‐ESBL‐producing strains, 26% were multiresistant and one strain resistant to eight of the nine antimicrobials tested was detected in the treated effluent. Conclusions:  The hospital wastewater treatment plant did not show a satisfactory efficacy in removing pathogenic micro‐organisms, allowing for the dissemination of multiresistant bacteria into the environment. Significance and Impact of the Study:  The inefficacy of hospital wastewater treatment plants can result in routes of dissemination of multiresistant bacteria and their genes of resistance into the environment, thus contaminating water resources, and having serious negative impact on public health.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to obtain knowledge about one of the issues that affects the ecosystem in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Studies on the environment are of fundamental importance if the quality of life of the inhabitants of certain regions is to be assured. Design/methodology/approach -Physicochemical and biological analysis were performed of samples collected at four points along the river. Some of the parameters established by CONAMA Brazilian Regulation #357/05 were evaluated. Findings -This paper did a physicochemical and biological characterization of a significant tributary river to the Guanabara Bay. This level of characterization has not been done before. The results achieved show that this river was in a worse condition than what was expected. Practical implications -With its potential for tourism and fishing, and its importance to Rio de Janeiro City and the State as a whole, Guanabara Bay should be the object of more in-depth studies and actions of a practical nature to bring about its ecological recovery. Originality/value -This paper is a new source of information about this important tributary, as is Faria-Timbó River to Guanabara Bay. This bay borders on a number of municipalities in the State and is of crucial importance not just for the neighboring towns and cities, but also for the entire State because of the fish stocks it harbors, which are consumed in the region.