Seasonal variations of steroid hormones released by wastewater treatment plants to river water and sediments: Distribution between particulate and dissolved phases

Background In the United States, an estimated 14,748 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) provide wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal service to more than 230 million people. The quality of treated wastewater is often assessed by the presence or absence of fecal indicator bacteria. UV disinfection of wastewater is a common final treatment step used by many wastewater treatment plants in order to reduce fecal coliform bacteria and other pathogens; however, its potential impacts on the total effluent bacterial community are seemingly varied. This is especially important given that urban WWTPs typically return treated effluent to coastal and riverine environments and thus are a major source of microorganisms, genes, and chemical compounds to these systems. Following rainfall, stormflow conditions can result in substantial increases to effluent flow into combined systems. Methods Here, we conducted a lab-scale UV disinfection on WWTP effluent using UV dosage of 100 mJ/cm2 and monitored the active microbiome in UV-treated effluent and untreated effluent over the course of 48 h post-exposure using 16S rRNA sequencing. In addition, we simulated stormflow conditions with effluent UV-treated and untreated effluent additions to river water and compared the microbial communities to those in baseflow river water. We also tracked the functional profiles of genes involved in tetracycline resistance (tetW) and nitrification (amoA) in these microcosms using RT-qPCR. Results We showed that while some organisms, such as members of the Bacteroidetes, are inhibited by UV disinfection and overall diversity of the microbial community decreases following treatment, many organisms not only survive, but remain active. These include common WWTP-derived organisms such as Comamonadaceae and Pseudomonas. When combined with river water to mimic stormflow conditions, these organisms can persist in the environment and potentially enhance microbial functions such as nitrification and antibiotic resistance.

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Occurrence, seasonal variations and removal of Organic Micropollutants in 76 Wastewater Treatment Plants

Process Safety and Environmental Protection ◽

10.1016/j.psep.2020.05.032 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 141 ◽

pp. 61-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Camilla Di Marcantonio ◽

Agostina Chiavola ◽

Simona Dossi ◽

Giancarlo Cecchini ◽

Simone Leoni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Seasonal Variations ◽

Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽

Organic Micropollutants

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Evaluating bioaccumulation of suspected endocrine disruptors into periphytons and benthos in the Tama River

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2003.0495 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 47 (9) ◽

pp. 71-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

A. Takahashi ◽

T. Higashitani ◽

Y. Yakou ◽

M. Saitou ◽

H. Tamamoto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

River Water ◽

Endocrine Disruptors ◽

Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽

Water Environment ◽

The Other ◽

Recombinant Yeast ◽

Bioaccumulation Factors ◽

17Β Estradiol ◽

Aquatic Food

There are two major routes through which fish are exposed to endocrine disruptors (EDs); one route is through water that is a habitat; the other is through aquatic food such as algae and benthos. Few studies on the bioaccumulation of EDs in food have been conducted. Therefore, we evaluated the concentration in food of nonylphenol (NP), bisphenol A (BPA) and 17β-estradiol (E2), which were frequently detected in river water and in final discharge of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in Japan. We also evaluated the estrogenicity of samples using recombinant yeast. NP concentrations ranged 0.1-0.4 mg/L in the river water, while they ranged 8-130 mg/kg-wet in the periphytons and 8-140 μg/kg-wet in the benthos. BPA concentrations ranged 0.02-0.15 μg/L in the river water, while they ranged 2-8.8 μg/kg-wet in the periphytons and 0.3-12 μg/kg-wet in the benthos. E2 concentrations ranged 0.0001-0.0076 μg/L in the water, while they ranged 0.09-2.26 μg/kg-wet in the periphytons and <0.01-0.22 μg/kg-wet in the benthos. The estrogenicity ranged 0.0001-0.0464 μg-E2equivalent/L in the water, while it ranged 3.4-66.8 μg-E2equivalent/kg-wet in the periphytons and 7.4-5458 μg-E2equivalent/kg-wet in the benthos. Bioaccumulation factors of NP are estimated as 160-650 for the periphytons, and 63-990 for the benthos, respectively. Bioaccumulation factors of BPA are estimated as 18-650 for the periphytons, and 8-170 for the benthos, respectively. Bioaccumulation factors of E2 are estimated as 64-1,200 for the periphytons, and 100-160 for the benthos, respectively. The ratios of the periphytons and the benthos to the water in terms of the estrogenicity were larger than those in terms of the chemicals. In particularly, the ratio of the benthos to the water is about 106 in the maximum. The results suggest that food may be a more important route for fish exposed to EDs in water environment.

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Ultraviolet disinfection impacts the microbial community composition and function of treated wastewater effluent and the receiving urban river

10.7287/peerj.preprints.27605v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Imrose Kauser ◽

Mark Ciesielski ◽

Rachel S Poretsky

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Microbial Community ◽

River Water ◽

Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽

Microbial Community Composition ◽

The United States ◽

Treated Wastewater ◽

Coliform Bacteria ◽

Uv Disinfection ◽

Treated Effluent

Background. In the United States, an estimated 14,748 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) provide wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal service to more than 230 million people. The quality of treated wastewater is often assessed by the presence or absence of fecal indicator bacteria. UV disinfection of wastewater is a common final treatment step used by many wastewater treatment plants in order to reduce fecal coliform bacteria and other pathogens; however, its potential impacts on the total effluent bacterial community are seemingly varied. This is especially important given that urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) typically return treated effluent to coastal and riverine environments and thus are a major source of microorganisms, genes, and chemical compounds to these systems. Following rainfall, stormflow conditions can result in substantial increases to effluent flow into these systems. Methods. Here, we conducted a lab-scale UV disinfection on WWTP effluent using UV dosage of 100 mJ/cm2 and monitored the active microbiome in UV-treated effluent and untreated effluent over the course of 48h post-exposure using 16S rRNA sequencing. In addition, we simulated stormflow conditions with effluent UV-treated and untreated effluent additions to river water and compared the microbial communities to those in baseflow river water. We also tracked the functional profiles of genes involved in tetracycline resistance (tetW) and nitrification (amoA) in these microcosms using qPCR. Results. We showed that while some organisms, such as members of the Bacteroidetes, are inhibited by UV disinfection and overall diversity of the microbial community decreases following treatment, many organisms not only survive, but remain active. These include common WWTP-derived organisms such as Comamonadaceae and Pseudomonas. When combined with river water to mimic stormflow conditions, these organisms can persist in the environment and potentially enhance microbial functions such as nitrification and antibiotic resistance.

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