Swine wastewater Chlorine Ultraviolet light Ozone A B S T R A C TVeterinary antibiotics are widely used at concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to prevent disease and promote growth of livestock. However, the majority of antibiotics are excreted from animals in urine, feces, and manure. Consequently, the lagoons used to store these wastes can act as reservoirs of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.There is currently no regulation or control of these systems to prevent the spread of these bacteria and their genes for antibiotic resistance into other environments. This study was conducted to determine the disinfection potential of chlorine, ultraviolet light and ozone against swine lagoon bacteria. Results indicate that a chlorine dose of 30 mg/L could achieve a 2.2-3.4 log bacteria reduction in lagoon samples. However, increasing the dose of chlorine did not significantly enhance the disinfection activity due to the presence of chlorine-resistant bacteria. The chlorine resistant bacteria were identified to be closely related to Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis. A significant percentage of lagoon bacteria were not susceptible to the four selected antibiotics: chlortetracycline, lincomycin, sulfamethazine and tetracycline (TET). However, the presence of both chlorine and TET could inactivate all bacteria in one lagoon sample. The disinfection potential of UV irradiation and ozone was also examined. Ultraviolet light was an effective bacterial disinfectant, but was unlikely to be economically viable due to its high energy requirements. At an ozone dose of 100 mg/L, the bacteria inactivation efficiency could reach 3.3À3.9 log.

Recent recognition of the occurrence of antibiotics in the environment has highlighted concerns regarding potential threats of antibiotics to humans and wildlife. Antibiotics are commonly applied to animals to prevent diseases and promote growth, making livestock agriculture a major source of antibiotic pollution. The purpose of our study was to examine chlorination technology as a method for preventing the release of antibiotics as well as antibiotic-resistant bacteria into the environment from concentrated animal feeding operations. Wastewaters from various sites of two anaerobic lagoon systems, one aerated and the other not, on a swine facility were investigated. Each system consisted of a primary treatment lagoon and a subsequent polishing lagoon. Free chlorine (or monochloramine for comparison) was applied to oxidize antibiotics and to disinfect lagoon bacteria as well. Results indicate that aeration substantially improves lagoon functionality, thereby adding both organic and ammonia removal. Ammonia present in the wastewaters plays a critical role in antibiotics decomposition and bacterial inactivation due to its rapid competition for free chlorine to form monochloramine. Generally, a chlorine dose close to breakpoint is required to achieve complete removal of antibiotics, leading to high consumption of free chlorine in most of the wastewaters examined. However, because of a low ammonia concentration in the polishing lagoon wastewater of the aerated system, a chlorine dose of 100 mg/L can effectively achieve complete removal of both antibiotics and bacteria. On the basis of our experimental findings, a possible strategy for the treatment of swine wastewater is suggested.

Tetracycline resistance has been extensively studied and shown to be widespread. A number of previous studies have clearly demonstrated that a variety of tetracycline resistance genes are present in swine fecal material, treatment lagoons, and the environments surrounding concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The diversity of tetracycline resistance within a swine lagoon located at a CAFO that used only bacitricin methylene disalicylate as an antibiotic was evaluated by screening 85 tetracycline-resistant isolates for the presence of 18 different genes by performing PCR with primers that target tetracycline efflux genes of Gram-negative bacteria and ribosomal protection proteins. In addition, partial 16S rRNA sequences from each of these isolates were sequenced to determine the identity of these isolates. Of the 85 isolates examined, 17 may represent potential novel species based on BLAST results. Greater than 50% of the isolates (48 out of 85) were found to not contain targeted tet efflux genes. Though minimum inhibitory concentrations ranged widely (16 - >256 mg/L), these values did not give an indication of the tet genes present. Ten new genera were identified that contain at least one tet efflux gene. Five other genera possessed tet efflux genes that were not found in these organisms previously. Interestingly, none of the isolates possessed any of the selected ribosomal protection protein genes. Though tetracycline resistance was found in bacteria isolated from a swine CAFO lagoon, it appears that the limited antibiotic use at this CAFO might have impacted the presence and diversity of tetracycline resistance genes.