Occurrence and fate of CECs (OMPs, ARGs and pathogens) during decentralised treatment of black water and grey water

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • M. Rivadulla - , University of Santiago de Compostela (Author)
  • M. Lois - , University of Santiago de Compostela (Author)
  • A. X. Elena - , Institute of Hydrobiology, Chair of Limnology, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • S. Balboa - , University of Santiago de Compostela (Author)
  • S. Suarez - , University of Santiago de Compostela (Author)
  • T. U. Berendonk - , Institute of Hydrobiology, Chair of Limnology, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • J. L. Romalde - , University of Santiago de Compostela (Author)
  • J. M. Garrido - , University of Santiago de Compostela (Author)
  • F. Omil - , University of Santiago de Compostela (Author)

Abstract

Decentralised wastewater treatment is becoming a suitable strategy to reduce cost and environmental impact. In this research, the performance of two technologies treating black water (BW) and grey water (GW) fractions of urban sewage is carried out in a decentralised treatment of the wastewater produced in three office buildings. An Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) treating BW and a Hybrid preanoxic Membrane Bioreactor (H-MBR) containing small plastic carrier elements, treating GW were operated at pilot scale. Their potential on reducing the release of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) such as Organic Micropollutants (OMPs), Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) and pathogens was studied. After 226 d of operation, a stable operation was achieved in both systems: the AnMBR removed 92.4 ± 2.5 % of influent COD, and H-MBR removed 89.7 ± 3.5 %. Regarding OMPs, the profile of compounds differed between BW and GW, being BW the matrix with more compounds detected at higher concentrations (up to μg L−1). For example, in the case of ibuprofen the concentrations in BW were 23.63 ± 3.97 μg L−1, 3 orders of magnitude higher than those detected in GW. The most abundant ARGs were sulfonamide resistant genes (sul1) and integron class 1 (intl1) in both BW and GW. Pathogenic bacteria counts were reduced between 1 and 3 log units in the AnMBR. Bacterial loads in GW were much lower than in BW, being no bacterial re-growth observed for the GW effluents after treatment in the H-MBR. None of the selected enteric viruses was detected in GW treatment line.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number169863
JournalScience of the total environment
Volume915
Publication statusPublished - 10 Mar 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 38190906
ORCID /0000-0001-5372-0923/work/152544436
ORCID /0000-0002-9301-1803/work/161409839

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Antibiotic resistances, Decentralised treatment, Membrane processes, Organic micropollutants, Water, Sewage/microbiology, Genes, Bacterial, Waste Disposal, Fluid, Water Purification, Wastewater, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Bioreactors/microbiology, Drug Resistance, Microbial/genetics