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Title Nanofiltration as an Efficient Tertiary Wastewater Treatment: Elimination of Total Bacteria and Antibiotic Resistance Genes from the Discharged Effluent of a Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plant
ID_Doc 17147
Authors Oliveira, M; Leonardo, IC; Silva, AF; Crespo, JG; Nunes, M; Crespo, MTB
Title Nanofiltration as an Efficient Tertiary Wastewater Treatment: Elimination of Total Bacteria and Antibiotic Resistance Genes from the Discharged Effluent of a Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plant
Year 2022
Published Antibiotics-Basel, 11, 5
DOI 10.3390/antibiotics11050630
Abstract Wastewater reuse for agricultural irrigation still raises important public health issues regarding its safety, due to the increasing presence of emerging contaminants, such as antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes, in the treated effluents. In this paper, the potential for a commercial Desal 5 DK nanofiltration membrane to be used as a tertiary treatment in the wastewater treatment plants for a more effective elimination of these pollutants from the produced effluents was assessed on laboratory scale, using a stainless steel cross-flow cell. The obtained results showed high concentrations of total bacteria and target carbapenem and (fluoro)quinolone resistance genes (bla(KPC), bla(OXA-48), bla(NDM), bla(IMP), bla(VIM), qnrA, qnrB and qnrS) not only in the discharged, but also in the reused, effluent samples, which suggests that their use may not be entirely safe. Nevertheless, the applied nanofiltration treatment achieved removal rates superior to 98% for the total bacteria and 99.99% for all the target resistance genes present in both DNA and extracellular DNA fractions, with no significant differences for these microbiological parameters between the nanofiltered and the control tap water samples. Although additional studies are still needed to fully optimize the entire process, the use of nanofiltration membranes seems to be a promising solution to substantially increase the quality of the treated wastewater effluents.
Author Keywords antibiotic resistance; carbapenem and (fluoro)quinolone resistance; tertiary wastewater treatments; nanofiltration; wastewater reuse
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
EID WOS:000801445300001
WoS Category Infectious Diseases; Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Research Area Infectious Diseases; Pharmacology & Pharmacy
PDF https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/5/630/pdf?version=1651838503
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