Environmental, Economic, and Ethical Assessment of the Treated Wastewater and Sewage Sludge Valorization in Agriculture

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emna Ammar ◽  
Hugo Maury ◽  
Loïc Morin ◽  
Abdelghani Sghir
2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Dolar ◽  
A. Vuković ◽  
D. Ašperger ◽  
K. Košutić

The production of pharmaceuticals has increased rapidly during the last several decades as they have been used for the health of both humans and animals. Routes of environmental exposure include the release of treated wastewater, the land disposal of livestock manures and municipal biosolids (i.e. sewage sludge), as well as the use of medicated aquaculture feed. This study deals with application of reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes for removing of antibiotic residues (sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin, dexamethasone and febantel) and their mixture. According to the results obtained in this work the use of RO (LFC–1 and XLE) and the tight NF (NF90) membranes are recommended to achieve a high level of retention (>95%) of all selected veterinary antibiotics (VAs). Nanofiltration NF270, NF and HL membranes showed a lower rejection of individual components, but much higher in a mixture solution, due to the synergistic effect.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Calderón-Franco ◽  
Apoorva Seeram ◽  
Gertjan Medema ◽  
Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht ◽  
David G. Weissbrodt

AbstractDisinfection of treated wastewater in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is used to minimize emission of coliforms, pathogens, and antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) in the environment. However, the fate of free-floating extracellular DNA (eDNA) that do carry antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) is overlooked. Water technologies are central to urban and industrial ecology for sanitation and resource recovery. Biochar produced by pyrolysis of sewage sludge and iron-oxide-coated sands recovered as by-product of drinking water treatment were tested as adsorbents to remove ARGs and MGEs from WWTP effluent. DNA adsorption properties and materials applicability were studied in batch and up-flow column systems at bench scale. Breakthrough curves were measured with ultrapure water and treated wastewater at initial DNA concentrations of 0.1-0.5 mg mL-1 and flow rates of 0.1-0.5 mL min-1. Batch tests with treated wastewater indicated that the adsorption profiles of biochar and iron-oxide coated sand followed a Freundlich isotherm, suggesting a multilayer adsorption of nucleic acids. Sewage-sludge biochar exhibited higher DNA adsorption capacity (1 mg g-1) and longer saturation breakthrough times (4 to 10 times) than iron-oxide coated sand (0.2 mg g-1). The removal of a set of representative ARGs and MGEs was measured by qPCR comparing the inlet and outlet of the plug-flow column fed with treated wastewater. ARGs and MGEs present as free-floating eDNA were adsorbed by sewage-sludge biochar at 85% and iron-oxide coated sand at 54%. From the environmental DNA consisting of the free-floating extracellular DNA plus the intracellular DNA of the cells present in the effluent water, 97% (sewage-sludge biochar) and 66% (iron-oxide coated sand) of the tested genes present were removed. Sewage-sludge biochar displayed interesting properties to minimize the spread of antimicrobial resistances to the aquatic environment while strengthening the role of WWTPs as resource recovery factories.Graphical abstractHighlightsSewage-sludge biochar and iron oxide coated sands were tested to adsorb DNA and cells.Biochar removed 97% of genes tested from environmental DNA of unfiltered effluent.85% of ARGs and MGEs of free-floating extracellular DNA were retained by biochar.Biochar is a WWTP by-product that can be re-used for public health sanitation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 537-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Schlindwein ◽  
C. Rigotto ◽  
C. M. O. Simões ◽  
C. R. M. Barardi

Sewage sludge and treated wastewater when contaminated with enteric virus and discharged into the environment, could pose a human health risk. The aim of study was to verify the presence and viability of enteric viruses in sewage sludge and treated wastewater at a local sewage plant in Florianopolis city, Brazil. Sewage sludge was concentrated by organic flocculation and polyethylene glycol precipitation and wastewater by electronegative membrane filtration and ultrafiltration by Centriprep Concentrator. Adenovirus (AdV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), and Rotavirus (RV) were examined for all samples for 12 months and Poliovirus (PV) was also tested for in sewage sludge samples. AdV was the most prevalent in both kind of samples, followed by RV, PV (in sludge) and HAV. Viral viability by cell culture (ICC-PCR) was: AdV: 100%, HAV: 16.7%, PV: 91.7%, RV: 25% in sludge and AdV: 66.6%, HAV: 66.6% and RV: 0% in wastewater. IFA for AdV in sludge ranged from 70 to 300 FFU/ml. QPCR for AdV ranged from 4.6 × 104 to 1.2 × 106 and from 50 to 1.3 × 104 gc/ml in sludge and wastewater, respectively. HAV quantification in sludge ranged from 3.1 × 102 to 5.4 × 102 gc/ml. In conclusion, it was possible to correlate presence and viability of enteric viruses in the environmental samples analyzed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 871-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonçalo Sousa ◽  
David Fangueiro ◽  
Elizabeth Duarte ◽  
Ernesto Vasconcelos

The objective of the present work was to assess the short term potential of treated wastewater and sewage sludge for ornamental lawn fertilization and irrigation. A field experiment was performed and the following treatments were considered: sewage sludge application + irrigation with public water; sewage sludge application + irrigation with treated wastewater; irrigation with public water; irrigation with treated wastewater (TW). Irrigation with treated wastewater showed a positive effect on lawn installation through higher growth of grass (1,667 cm) and higher dry matter yield (18,147 g m−2). These results represent a significant increase in the grass yield compared with public water irrigation. The grass height (2,606 cm) and dry matter yield (23,177 g m−2) increased even more, when sewage sludge produced in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was applied to soil, which proves once more its benefits as an organic fertilizer. At the end of the experiment, an increase of some soil parameters (pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, Ca2+, Na+, K+, Mg2+ and NH4+) was observed, indicating that treated wastewater irrigation can cause a soil sodization. This short term study indicated that use of treated wastewater and sewage sludge for ornamental lawn fertilization and irrigation is an environmentally sustainable option for re-use of the WWTP by-products.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 5816
Author(s):  
Damian Rolbiecki ◽  
Monika Harnisz ◽  
Ewa Korzeniewska ◽  
Łukasz Jałowiecki ◽  
Grażyna Płaza

This study identified differences in the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) between wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) processing different proportions of hospital and municipal wastewater as well as various types of industrial wastewater. The influence of treated effluents discharged from WWTPs on the receiving water bodies (rivers) was examined. Genomic DNA was isolated from environmental samples (river water, wastewater and sewage sludge). The presence of genes encoding resistance to sulfonamides (sul1, sul2) and fluoroquinolones (qepA, aac(6′)-Ib-cr) was determined by standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The effect of the sampling season (summer – June, fall – November) was analyzed. Treated wastewater and sewage sludge were significant reservoirs of antibiotic resistance and contained all of the examined ARGs. All wastewater samples contained sul1 and aac(6′)-lb-cr genes, while the qepA and sul2 genes occurred less frequently. These observations suggest that the prevalence of ARGs is determined by the type of processed wastewater. The Warmia and Mazury WWTP was characterized by higher levels of the sul2 gene, which could be attributed to the fact that this WWTP processes agricultural sewage containing animal waste. However, hospital wastewater appears to be the main source of the sul1 gene. The results of this study indicate that WWTPs are significant sources of ARGs, contributing to the spread of antibiotic resistance in rivers receiving processed wastewater.


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