Wastewater treatment plants as a source of microbial pathogens in receiving watersheds

Abstract

Wastewater treatment facilities have become sin quo non in ensuring the discharges of high quality wastewater effluents into receiving water bodies and consequence, a healthier environment. Due to massive worldwide increases in human population, water has been predicted to become one of the scarcest resources in the 21 st century, and despite large advances in water and wastewater treatments, waterborne diseases still pose a major threat to public health worldwide. Several questions have been raised on the capacity of current wastewater treatment regimes to remove pathogens from wastewater with many waterborne diseases linked to supposedly treated water supplies. One of the major gaps in the knowledge of pathogenic microorganisms in wastewater is the lack of a thorough understanding of the survival and persistence of the different microbial types in different conditions and environments. This therefore brings to the fore the need for a thorough research into the movement and behavior of these microorganisms in wastewaters. In this review paper we give an overview of wastewater treatment practices with particular emphasis on the removal of microbial pathogens.

Accumulation and expression of multiple antibiotic resistance genes in Arcobacter cryaerophilus that thrives in sewage

“…Additionally, studies have shown that discharge of treated sewage allows these concentrated communities to spread into environmental water (Okoh et al, 2007; Varela & Manaia, 2013). The Arcobacter genus is commonly detected in sewage treatment plants around the world (Collado et al, 2008; Zhang, Shao & Ye, 2012; Varela & Manaia, 2013).…”

Electrochemical Disinfection in Water and Wastewater Treatment: Identifying Impacts of Water Quality and Operating Conditions on Performance

“…In countries with widespread centralized water and wastewater treatment systems, pathogen inactivation levels are regulated by governing authorities to ensure water is safe for human consumption or discharge into receiving water bodies. 16 , 17 In this paradigm, disinfection is typically carried out prior to potable water distribution or discharge of treated wastewater to receiving water bodies. 18 − 20 However, aging centralized treatment infrastructure has contributed to unsafe levels of pathogen exposure, such as recent Legionella outbreaks in the U.S., leading to increasing interest in distributed disinfection systems, wherein pathogen inactivation occurs at the site of water consumption or wastewater generation.…”

PATOTIPOS Y RESISTENCIA A ANTIBIÓTICOS DE Escherichia coli EN AGUA RESIDUAL

“…Asimismo, se ha demostrado la ineficiencia del tratamiento con radiación UV contra coliformes fecales, ya que las bacterias tienen la capacidad de reparar y revertir los efectos negativos sobre su ADN. Esto ocurre cuando las dosis de radiación UV son bajas y los tiempos de exposición son cortos según lo reportado por Okoh et al (2007). Con relación a la desinfección con cloro, esta puede ser más efectiva para inactivar a las bacterias, pero se han encontrado cepas de E. coli que pueden sobrevivir en agua clorada.…”