Wastewater treatment performance in microbiological removal and (oo)cyst viability assessed comparatively to fluorescence decay.

Municipal wastewater is a source of pathogenic protozoan (oo)cysts and may play a significant role in spreading waterborne diseases. This scenario becomes more critical as treated sewage from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is discharged into springs, which are often used for water supply, irrigation, recreation and, further downstream, indirect potable reuse, quite common in Brazil. This study aimed to elucidate, regarding microbiological quality, the performance of a full-scale WWTP, consisting of preliminary treatment, upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, activated sludge system and ultraviolet (UV) radiation disinfection. Pathogenic protozoa (Giardia spp. cysts and Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts), as well as microbiological indicators (Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens), were evaluated in terms of their removal. In addition, (oo)cyst viability and fluorescence reduction were assessed. By using the data obtained from this research, the prevalence of infection estimated for the population served by the WWTP was between 7.4% and 14.8% for giardiasis, and between 0.055% and 0.11% for cryptosporidiosis.

Performance of a small-scale wastewater treatment plant for removal of pathogenic protozoa (oo)cysts and indicator microorganisms.

The protozoa Giardia and Cryptosporidium are associated with numerous outbreaks of waterborne diseases worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate the concentration of Giardia spp. cysts, Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts, total coliforms, Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens in raw wastewater and their removals at UASB reactor, activated sludge system (operated conventionally and extended aeration) and slow sand filtration. Giardia spp. cysts were present in 100% and Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts in 31.4% of the analysed wastewater samples. The UASB reactor followed by activated sludge system obtained approximately 2.0 log of removal for total coliforms and E. coli, whereas for C. perfringens and Giardia spp. cysts, it obtained 1 log. There was a high percentage of (oo)cysts still viable after secondary treatment, therefore, the risk of contamination of water courses and, consequently, for public health is considerable. However, after tertiary filtration, no (oo)cysts were found in any of the filtered effluent samples, being a good option for future reuse. Seasonal variations did not affect the concentrations and removals of microorganisms observed. Lack of correlations of concentrations of indicator microorganisms and (oo)cysts raise caveats and doubts regarding the true microbiological quality when using only indicator microorganisms.

Comparison of selected methods for recovery of Giardia spp. cysts and Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts in wastewater.

More precise methods are needed to recover Giardia and Cryptosporidium (oo)cysts from wastewater in order to advance research related to their inactivation, removal, quantification, and species differentiation. This study applied different methods to recover the maximum number of (oo)cysts from wastewater samples using ColorSeed®. Immunomagnetic separation assisted in capturing oocysts mainly in samples with medium and low turbidity. A triple centrifugation method reached recovery rates of 85% and 20%, for Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts, respectively, in raw wastewater, and 62.5 and 17.5% in secondary-treated effluent. For low turbidity-treated effluent, membrane filtration reached 67.5% recovery for Giardia cysts and 22.5% for Cryptosporidium oocysts. Simple, quick and low-cost methods do not involve much handling of the samples and could be useful, particularly in developing countries.