scholarly journals Impact of Tetracycline on Microbial Communities in the Secondary Treatment Process of Wastewater Treatment Systems

Author(s):  
GM I. Islam

This study examined the impact of the antibiotic tetracycline at environmentally relevant concentrations (1μg/L and 10μg/L) on the composition and function of the microbial community that are responsible for the secondary treatment step in a municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWTP). Specifically, this study examined whether nitrification is inhibited by the presence of tetracycline under high and low nutrient replacement conditions. Aerated semi-batch reactors were set up containing activated sludge samples from a MWTP. Reactors were replenished with a synthetic wastewater media at two constant replacement rates for a period of 4 weeks. Parameters such as ammonia, nitrate/nitrite and total Kjeldahl nitrogen concentrations were monitored to evaluate the nitrogen removal efficiency. Under a low nutrient replacement rate, tetracycline was observed to have a positive impact on ammonia removal and nitrification than at the higher one. However, total Kjeldahl nitrogen concentrations increased in low nutrient replacement reactors under the presence of tetracycline which suggested a potential inhibitory effect on denitrification. At high nutrient replacement rates, tetracycline did not demonstrate an inhibitory effect on both nitrification and denitrification processes. Overall, it appears that both antibiotic presence and nutrient replacement rates can influence the community composition and function of microbial communities found in a MWTP.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
GM I. Islam

This study examined the impact of the antibiotic tetracycline at environmentally relevant concentrations (1μg/L and 10μg/L) on the composition and function of the microbial community that are responsible for the secondary treatment step in a municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWTP). Specifically, this study examined whether nitrification is inhibited by the presence of tetracycline under high and low nutrient replacement conditions. Aerated semi-batch reactors were set up containing activated sludge samples from a MWTP. Reactors were replenished with a synthetic wastewater media at two constant replacement rates for a period of 4 weeks. Parameters such as ammonia, nitrate/nitrite and total Kjeldahl nitrogen concentrations were monitored to evaluate the nitrogen removal efficiency. Under a low nutrient replacement rate, tetracycline was observed to have a positive impact on ammonia removal and nitrification than at the higher one. However, total Kjeldahl nitrogen concentrations increased in low nutrient replacement reactors under the presence of tetracycline which suggested a potential inhibitory effect on denitrification. At high nutrient replacement rates, tetracycline did not demonstrate an inhibitory effect on both nitrification and denitrification processes. Overall, it appears that both antibiotic presence and nutrient replacement rates can influence the community composition and function of microbial communities found in a MWTP.


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-325
Author(s):  
Anna Osiecka ◽  
Patrick J Minogue ◽  
Masato Miwa ◽  
Dwight K Lauer

Abstract Pinestraw harvesting is an important industry in the southeastern United States. There is a need to understand how fertilization can be used efficiently to sustain or increase long-term pinestraw yields and avoid adverse environmental consequences. The effects of fertilization on needlefall nutrient concentrations, pinestraw yields, and nutrient removals on soils with contrasting soil nutrient sorption potential (Entisol vs. Ultisol) were compared using two midrotation slash pine plantations in North Florida. Diammonium phosphate was applied at 0, 144, 430, or 718 kg ha–1 in the spring of 2009 and 2010. Pinestraw was harvested annually in 2009–12. Needlefall mass, pinestraw yields, total Kjeldahl nitrogen concentrations in needlefall and pinestraw, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen, P, K, Ca, and Mg removals increased with fertilization. Diammonium phosphate at 718 kg ha–1 year–1 increased pinestraw yield over the control by 37 and 35 percent 2 years after the second fertilization, and by 11 percent (from 21.5 to 23.8 Mg ha–1) and 12 percent (from 25.0 to 28.1 Mg ha–1) over the 4-year control totals, at Entisol and Ultisol sites, respectively. Differences between sites were larger than fertilization response for most variables. Yields, nutrient concentrations, and removals were higher at the more fertile Ultisol than Entisol and, at both sites, higher than most reported in the literature.


1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 165-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Soares ◽  
S. A. Silva ◽  
R. de Oliveira ◽  
A. L. C. Araujo ◽  
D. D. Mara ◽  
...  

Ammonia removal was monitored in a waste stabilisation pond complex comprising ponds of different geometries and depths under two different operational regimes. It was found that a high degree of ammonia removal commenced in the secondary maturation ponds, with the highest removals occurring in the shallowest ponds as a consequence of improved aerobic conditions. The tertiary maturation ponds produced effluents with mean ammonia concentrations of < 5 mg N/l, the maximum permitted recommended by Brazilian environmental legislation for the discharge of effluents of wastewater treatment plants into surface waters. Ammonia removal in the secondary facultative and maturation ponds could be modelled using equations based on the volatilization mechanism proposed by Middlebrooks et al. (1982).


1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 191-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Hurse ◽  
Michael A. Connor

In an attempt to gain a better understanding of ammonia and nitrogen removal processes in multi-pond wastewater treatment lagoons, an analysis was carried out of data obtained during regular monitoring of Lagoon 115E at the Western Treatment Plant in Melbourne. To do this, a contour plot approach was developed that enables the data to be displayed as a function of pond number and date. Superimposition of contour plots for different parameters enabled the dependence of ammonia and nitrogen removal rates on various lagoon characteristics to be readily assessed. The importance of nitrification as an ammonia removal mechanism was confirmed. Temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration and algal concentration all had a significant influence on whether or not sizeable nitrifier populations developed and persisted in lagoon waters. The analysis made it evident that a better understanding of microbial, chemical and physical processes in lagoons is needed before their nitrogen removal capabilities can be predicted with confidence.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 446-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Xiao ◽  
Erica B. Young ◽  
Jacob J. Grothjan ◽  
Stephen Lyon ◽  
Husen Zhang ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7358
Author(s):  
Dong-Hyun Kim ◽  
Hyun-Sik Yun ◽  
Young-Saeng Kim ◽  
Jong-Guk Kim

This study analyzed the microbial community metagenomically to determine the cause of the functionality of a livestock wastewater treatment facility that can effectively remove pollutants, such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. Illumina MiSeq sequencing was used in analyzing the composition and structure of the microbial community, and the 16S rRNA gene was used. Through Illumina MiSeq sequencing, information such as diversity indicators as well as the composition and structure of microbial communities present in the livestock wastewater treatment facility were obtained, and differences between microbial communities present in the investigated samples were compared. The number of reads, operational taxonomic units, and species richness were lower in influent sample (NLF), where the wastewater enters, than in effluent sample (NL), in which treated wastewater is found. This difference was greater in June 2019 than in January 2020, and the removal rates of ammonia (86.93%) and hydrogen sulfide (99.72%) were also higher in June 2019. In both areas, the community composition was similar in January 2020, whereas the influent sample (NLF) and effluent sample (NL) areas in June 2019 were dominated by Proteobacteria (76.23%) and Firmicutes (67.13%), respectively. Oleiphilaceae (40.89%) and Thioalkalibacteraceae (12.91%), which are related to ammonia and hydrogen sulfide removal, respectively, were identified in influent sample (NLF) in June 2019. They were more abundant in June 2019 than in January 2020. Therefore, the functionality of the livestock wastewater treatment facility was affected by characteristics, including the composition of the microbial community. Compared to Illumina MiSeq sequencing, fewer species were isolated and identified in both areas using culture-based methods, suggesting Illumina MiSeq sequencing as a powerful tool to determine the relevance of microbial communities for pollutant removal.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 174
Author(s):  
Konstantinos P. Papadopoulos ◽  
Christina N. Economou ◽  
Athanasia G. Tekerlekopoulou ◽  
Dimitris V. Vayenas

Algal/cyanobacterial biofilm photobioreactors provide an alternative technology to conventional photosynthetic systems for wastewater treatment based on high biomass production and easy biomass harvesting at low cost. This study introduces a novel cyanobacteria-based biofilm photobioreactor and assesses its performance in post-treatment of brewery wastewater and biomass production. Two different supporting materials (glass/polyurethane) were tested to investigate the effect of surface hydrophobicity on biomass attachment and overall reactor performance. The reactor exhibited high removal efficiency (over 65%) of the wastewater’s pollutants (chemical oxygen demand, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, orthophosphate, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen), while biomass per reactor surface reached 13.1 and 12.8 g·m−2 corresponding to 406 and 392 mg·L−1 for glass and polyurethane, respectively, after 15 days of cultivation. The hydrophilic glass surface favored initial biomass adhesion, although eventually both materials yielded complete biomass attachment, highlighting that cell-to-cell interactions are the dominant adhesion mechanism in mature biofilms. It was also found that the biofilm accumulated up to 61% of its dry weight in carbohydrates at the end of cultivation, thus making the produced biomass a suitable feedstock for bioethanol production.


2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Araujo ◽  
M. M. S. Correa ◽  
E. C. Silva ◽  
A. P. Campos ◽  
V. M. Godinho ◽  
...  

This work applied PCR amplification method and Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) with primers and probes specific for the anammox organisms and aerobic ammonia-oxidising β-Proteobacteria in order to detect these groups in different samples from a wastewater treatment system comprised by UASB reactor and three polishing (maturation) ponds in series. Seven primer pairs were used in order to detect Anammox bacteria. Positive results were obtained with three of them, suggesting that Anammox could be present in polishing pond sediments. However, Anammox bacteria were not detected by FISH, indicating that they were not present in sediment samples, or they could be present but below FISH detection limit. Aerobic ammonia- and nitrite-oxidising bacteria were verified in water column samples through Most Probable Number (MPN) analysis, but they were not detected in sediment samples by FISH. Ammonia removal efficiencies occurred systematically along the ponds (24, 32, and 34% for polishing pond 1, 2, and 3, respectively) but the major reaction responsible for this removal is still unclear. Some nitrification might have occurred in water samples because some nitrifying bacteria were present. Also Anammox reaction might have occurred because Anammox genes were detected in the sediments, but probably this reaction was too low to be noticed. It is important also to consider that some of the ammonia removal observed might be related to NH3 stripping, associated with the pH increase resulting from the intensive photosynthetic activity in the ponds (mechanism under investigation). Therefore, it can be concluded that more than one mechanism (or reaction) might be involved in the ammonia removal in the polishing ponds investigated in this study.


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