Removal of antibiotic resistant E. coli in two Norwegian wastewater treatment plants and by nano- and ultra-filtration processes

Abstract

The effectivity of different treatment stages at two large wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in Oslo, Norway, to remove antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli from municipal wastewater was investigated. The WWTPs were effective in reducing the total cultivable E. coli. The E. coli in WWTP samples were mainly resistant to ampicillin (6-27%) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (5-24%), and, to a lesser extent, tetracycline (3-14%) and ciprofloxacin (0-7%). In the first WWTP, a clear decrease in the percentage of E. coli resistant to these antibiotics was found, with the main removal occurring during physical/chemical treatment. In the second WWTP, the percentage of cultivable resistant E. coli did not display a considerable change. During laboratory-scale membrane filtration of WWTP effluents using ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes, all E. coli, including those resistant to antibiotics, were removed completely. The results imply that UF and NF processes are potent measures to remove antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) during post-treatment of WWTP effluents, thus reducing the potential spread of antibiotic resistance in the receiving aquatic environment.

Nanotechnology‐based wastewater treatment

“…The other way is to remove the microbes by filtration. Nano filtration techniques can also be used for this purpose, which will help to remove the microbes efficiently from water (He et al ., 2018; Schwermer et al ., 2018). A table highlights the properties and advantages of different nanotechnology methods using for water treatment are mentioned in Table 1.…”

A Review on Occurrence and Spread of Antibiotic Resistance in Wastewaters and in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Mechanisms and Perspectives

“…Research by Kappell et al (2018) has similarly shown the effectiveness of anaerobic MBRs with ARG removals of up to 3.6 log 10 . Schwermer et al (2018) investigated the efficiency of two WWTPs in the removal of ampicillin, sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline resistant E. coli. The two WWTPs employed a biofilm process and a conventional activated sludge treatment process, respectively.…”

“… Schwermer et al (2018) investigated the efficiency of two WWTPs in the removal of ampicillin , sulfamethoxazole , ciprofloxacin , and tetracycline resistant E. coli . The two WWTPs employed a biofilm process and a conventional activated sludge treatment process, respectively.…”

“…Other membrane filtration processes that can be used as post treatment methods include microfiltration (MF) and reverse osmosis (RO). While the effectiveness of MF efficiency against ARB and ARGs has been studied ( Riquelme Breazeal et al, 2013 ), the application of RO, alone or combined with other methods, has yet to be investigated in detail ( Schwermer et al, 2018 ).…”

An African perspective on the prevalence, fate and effects of carbapenem resistance genes in hospital effluents and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) final effluents: A critical review

“…Alternatively, during therapeutic treatment procedures, the human intestinal microbiota is exposed to high concentrations of antimicrobials that can stimulate the generation of resistance phenotypes before its discharged into sewage through human excreta . Globally, several findings on the presence of antibiotics, as well as the detection of ARB and ARGs in WWTPs final effluents samples have been reported including the study of Schwermer et al (2018). A recent study by Barancheshme and Munir (2018) suggested some strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in WWTPs such as equipment upgrades with new developments, and they also pointed out that urban wastewaters may not ideally undergo appropriate treatment procedures due to broken down facilities in developing countries.…”