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Persistence of fecal indicator bacteria and associated genetic markers from wastewater treatment plant effluents in freshwater microcosms
Citation:
Chern, E., L. Wymer, K. Brenner, K. Oshima, AND Rich Haugland. Persistence of fecal indicator bacteria and associated genetic markers from wastewater treatment plant effluents in freshwater microcosms. JOURNAL OF WATER AND HEALTH. IWA Publishing, London, Uk, 20(1):205–215, (2022). https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2021.152
Impact/Purpose:
The product that this interim product is associated with will directly address OW research priorities calling for the exploration of potential linkages between public health and microbial contaminants (fecal indicators, MST, and AMR targets) using epidemiology, QMRA, as well as predictive and process models for newer indicators. Findings will inform regulatory and policy decisions for the use of model-based implementation tools for RWQC adoption. This interim product will support the use of QMRA to estimate the risk of gastrointestinal illness in recreational water contaminated with raw sewage and/or effluent and modeling of the persistence and decay of key microbial contaminant targets in recreational water habitats, It will be included in OW briefing of key ORD efforts to support preparation of the EPA 2022 Five-Year Review of the 2012 RWQC required by the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act amendments to the Clean Water Act section 304(a)(9)(B).
Description:
Limited information exists on the environmental persistence of genetic markers for fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in treated wastewaters. Here, the decay rate constants of culturable cells and genetic markers for four diverse groups of FIBs, such as enterococci, Clostridium, Escherichia coli, and Bacteroides, were investigated in freshwater microcosms seeded with disinfected and non-disinfected secondary-treated wastewaters. Decay rate constants of genetic markers and culturable cells varied significantly among the different FIB groups. Water temperatures (winter vs. fall/spring/summer) significantly affected the decay of all genetic marker and cell types; however, genetic marker decay were not found to be significantly different in disinfected (chlorination/ultraviolet) and non-disinfected wastewater-seeded microcosms or, for example, lake- and river-receiving waters. No evidence was seen that decay rate constants of FIB genetic markers from treated wastewater were substantially different from those observed in similar, previously reported microcosm studies using raw sewage. Unexpected relationships between decay rate constants of genetic markers and culturable cells of Bacteroides were observed. Results suggest that decay rate constants of FIB genetic markers determined from other studies may be applicable to treated wastewaters. Results of this study should be informative for ongoing efforts to determine the persistence of FIB genetic markers relative to surviving pathogens after wastewater treatment.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Persistence of fecal indicator bacteria and associated genetic markers from wastewater treatment plant effluents in freshwater microcosms
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35100168/