No abstract

Human sewage from Florianopolis (Santa Catarina, Brazil) was analyzed for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV2) from October 2019 until March 2020. Twenty five ml of sewage samples were clarified and viruses concentrated using a glycine buffer method coupled with polyethylene glycol precipitation, and viral RNA extracted using a commercial kit. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected by RT-qPCR using oligonucleotides targeting N1, S and two RdRp regions. The results of all positive samples were further confirmed by a different RT-qPCR system in an independent laboratory. S and RdRp amplicons were sequenced to confirm identity with SARS-CoV-2. Genome sequencing was performed using two strategies; a sequence-independent single-primer amplification (SISPA) approach, and by direct metagenomics using Illumina's NGS. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected on 27th November 2019 (5.49 ± 0.02 log 10 SARS-CoV-2 genome copies (GC) L −1 ), detection being confirmed by an independent laboratory and genome sequencing analysis. The samples in the subsequent three events were positive by all RT-qPCR assays; these positive results were also confirmed by an independent laboratory. The average load was 5.83 ± 0.12 log 10 SARS-CoV-2 GC L −1 , ranging from 5.49 ± 0.02 log 10 GC L −1 (27th November 2019) to 6.68 ± 0.02 log 10 GC L −1 (4th March 2020). Our findings demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 was likely circulating undetected in the community in Brazil since November 2019, earlier than the first reported case in the Americas (21st January 2020).

No abstract

Ecological sanitation technologies can be effective in providing health and environmental pollution control if they can efficiently reduce the pathogenicity of microorganisms carried in fecal material to safe levels. This study evaluated the sanitizing effects of different additives for dry treatment of feces from urine-diverting dry toilets, based on inactivation of Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, bacteriophages MS2 and ⌽X, and Ascaris suum. The additives, ash (A) and oyster shell (O) in different amounts and urea (U) to optimize the process, were compared with no additive, solely urea, and sawdust as controls (C) and were covered ([x%O:A]) or uncovered (x%O:A). The main inactivation factors found were desiccation, ammonia content, and pH. S. Typhimurium and E. faecalis were more affected by the ammonia content. A combination of neutral to high pH and desiccation was most effective for inactivation of MS2, and desiccation was most effective for inactivation of ⌽X and A. suum. The inactivation rate was modeled for all combinations studied. The most promising treatments were [150%O:A؉U], 150%O:A؉U, and 150%O:A. According to the models, these could inactivate, for example, 7 log 10 units of all bacteria and bacteriophages within 83, 125, and 183 days, respectively. The inactivation of A. suum was modeled, albeit the measured decay in egg viability was low.

We analysed human sewage located in Florianopolis (Santa Catalina, Brazil) from late October until the Brazil lockdown on early March. We detected SARS-CoV-2 in two samples collected independently on 27th November 2019 (5.49 ± 0.02 log genome copies/L). Subsequent samplings were positive until 4th March 2020 (coinciding with the first COVID-19 case reported in Santa Catalina), with a SARS-CoV-2 RNA increase of one log (6.68 ± 0.02 log genome copies/L). Our results show that SARS-CoV-2 has been circulating in Brazil since late November 2019, much earlier than the first reported case in the Americas (21st January 2020, USA).

RESUMOA utilização no Brasil de sistemas tipo wetlands construídos no tratamento de águas residuárias iniciou no ano de 1980, intensificando-se a partir do ano 2000. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar um estado da arte da aplicação no Brasil dos wetlands construídos de escoamento subsuperficial de fluxo horizontal (WCFH), identificando parâmetros de projeto e dados operacionais.Aborda-se, inicialmente, uma classificação para os wetlands construídos, seguido dos parâmetros de projeto e operação dos WCFH, destacando os diferentes critérios de dimensionamento, tais como os modelos oriundos da cinética de primeira ordem aplicável aos reatores tipo pistão, a relação de área per capita, o carregamento orgânico superficial e a taxa hidráulica, bem como a composição das unidades de tratamento e as macrófitas empregadas. Palavras Revisão de LiteraturaExperiências brasileiras com wetlands construídos aplicados ao tratamento de águas residuárias: parâmetros de projeto para sistemas horizontais Initially a classification for constructed wetlands is given, followed by design parameters and operational conditions for HFCW, highlighting different project criteria, e.g. models from first order kinetics for tubular piston reactors, the relation of superficial area per person, the organic superficial loading and the hydraulic loading, as well as the composition of units and macrophytes utilised.

No abstract

No abstract