Settling and Peracetic Acid for End-of-Pipe Treatment of sul 1-Carrying Indicator Organisms and Impact on Receiving Water

Alessia Eramo, Sophia Blanc, Nicole L. Fahrenfeld

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Combined sewer overflow (CSO) negatively impacts water quality during wet weather. An end-of-pipe treatment train with settleable particle removal and peracetic acid (PAA) disinfection was investigated for treatment of Escherichia coli (E. coli), sul1 gene-carrying E. coli, and total coliform (TC) in simulated CSO effluent. Settling reduced chemical oxygen demand by 49%±11% and total suspended solids by 78%±7%. Overall removals of 3.1±0.14-log and 2.5±0.37-log were achieved for E. coli and TC, respectively, with settling and disinfection, but these removals were not significantly different from removals with disinfection only. After disinfection, the fraction of E. coli carrying the antibiotic-resistance gene (ARG) sul1 increased. Treated samples were spiked into estuarine water to determine regrowth potential of target bacteria following release. After 7 days, E. coli was not detected in reactors with treated CSO, and TC concentrations decreased significantly. This research provides insight into a potential end-of-pipe treatment and suggests that disinfection rather than settling is more effective for microbial treatment of the wastewater component of CSO effluent.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number04019064
JournalJournal of Environmental Engineering (United States)
Volume145
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Environmental Science(all)

Keywords

  • Antibiotic-resistance selection
  • Combined sewer overflow
  • Fecal indicator bacteria
  • Peracetic acid
  • Regrowth
  • Settling

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