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Michael SG, Drigo B, Michael-Kordatou I, Michael C, Jäger T, Aleer SC, Schwartz T, Donner E, Fatta-Kassinos D. The effect of ultrafiltration process on the fate of antibiotic-related microcontaminants, pathogenic microbes, and toxicity in urban wastewater. J Hazard Mater 2022; 435:128943. [PMID: 35650718 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Ultrafiltration (UF) was assessed at chemical, microbiological, genetical and toxicological level and in terms of removing specific antibiotic-related microcontaminants from urban wastewater. The UF capacity to remove various antibiotics (clarithromycin, erythromycin, ampicillin, ofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and tetracycline; [A0] = 100 μg L-1) was optimised with respect to the feed recirculation rate (25-50%) and feed/transmembrane pressure (1.5-3/1.5-2.4 bar, respectively). Here, we tested the UF capacity to reduce the cultivable bacteria (faecal coliforms, total heterotrophs, Enterococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa), enteric opportunistic pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) load. Moreover, the toxicity towards Daphnia magna and three plant species was investigated. Upon optimisation of UF, the removal of antibiotics ranged from 19% for trimethoprim to 95% for clarithromycin. The concentration of cultivable faecal coliforms in the permeate was significantly reduced compared to the feed (P < 0.001), whereas all the bacterial species decreased by more than 3 logs. A similar pattern of reduction was observed for the ARGs (P < 0.001) and enteric opportunistic pathogens (~3-4 logs reduction). A nearly complete removal of the antibiotics was obtained by UF followed by granular activated carbon adsorption (contact time: 90 min), demonstrating the positive contribution of such combination to the abatement of chemical microcontaminants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stella G Michael
- Nireas International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, CY-1678 Nicosia, Cyprus; Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, CY-1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Barbara Drigo
- Future Industries Institute (FII), Mawson Lakes Campus, University of South Australia, 5095 Mawson Lakes, Australia.
| | - Irene Michael-Kordatou
- Nireas International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, CY-1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Costas Michael
- Nireas International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, CY-1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Thomas Jäger
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Functional Interfaces, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Samuel C Aleer
- Future Industries Institute (FII), Mawson Lakes Campus, University of South Australia, 5095 Mawson Lakes, Australia
| | - Thomas Schwartz
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Functional Interfaces, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Erica Donner
- Future Industries Institute (FII), Mawson Lakes Campus, University of South Australia, 5095 Mawson Lakes, Australia
| | - Despo Fatta-Kassinos
- Nireas International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, CY-1678 Nicosia, Cyprus; Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, CY-1678 Nicosia, Cyprus.
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Drigo B, Brunetti G, Aleer SC, Bell JM, Short MD, Vasileiadis S, Turnidge J, Monis P, Cunliffe D, Donner E. Inactivation, removal, and regrowth potential of opportunistic pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes in recycled water systems. Water Res 2021; 201:117324. [PMID: 34242935 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2020] [Revised: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
With two thirds of the global population living in areas affected by water scarcity, wastewater reuse is actively being implemented or explored by many nations. There is a need to better understand the efficacy of recycled water treatment plants (RWTPs) for removal of human opportunistic pathogens and antimicrobial resistant microorganisms. Here, we used a suite of probe-based multiplex and SYBR green real-time PCR assays to monitor enteric opportunistic pathogens (EOPs; Acinetobacter baumannii, Arcobacter butzlieri, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Legionella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella Enteritidis, Streptococcus spp.) and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs; qnrS, blaSHV, blaTEM, blaGES, blaKPC, blaIMI, blaSME, blaNDM, blaVIM, blaIMP, blaOXA-48-like, mcr-1 and mcr-3) of key concern from an antimicrobial resistance (AMR), waterborne and foodborne disease perspective. The class 1 integron-integrase gene (intl1) was quantified as a proxy for multi-drug resistance. EOPs, intl1 and ARGs absolute abundance (DNA and RNA) and metabolic activity (RNA) was assessed through three RWTPs with differing treatment trains. Our results indicate that RWTPs produced high quality recycled water for non-potable reuse by removing >95% of EOPs and ARGs, however, subpopulations of EOPs and ARGs survived disinfection and demonstrated potential to become actively growing members of the recycled water and distribution system microbiomes. The persistence of functional intl1 suggests that significant genetic recombination capacity remains in the recycled water, along with the likely presence of multi-drug resistant bacteria. Results provide new insights into the persistence and growth of EOPs, and prevalence and removal of ARGs in recycled water systems. These data will contribute towards the emerging evidence base of AMR risks in recycled water to inform quantitative risk-based policy development regarding water recycling schemes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Drigo
- Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
| | - Gianluca Brunetti
- Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Samuel C Aleer
- Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Jan M Bell
- Australian Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Ecology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Michael D Short
- Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Sotirios Vasileiadis
- Laboratory of Plant and Environmental Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece
| | - John Turnidge
- Australian Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Ecology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Paul Monis
- South Australian Water Corporation, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia; Future Industries Institute and ARC Centre of Excellence for Convergent Bio and Nano Science, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5095, Australia
| | - David Cunliffe
- Department for Health and Wellbeing, Adelaide, 5000, South Australia, Australia
| | - Erica Donner
- Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
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