Assessing sustainability of microalgae-based wastewater treatment: Environmental considerations and impacts on human health.

An integrated life cycle assessment (LCA) and quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) were conducted to assess microalgae-mediated wastewater disinfection (M-WWD). M-WWD was achieved by replacing ultraviolet disinfection with a microalgal open raceway pond in an existing sewage treatment plant (STP) in India. Regarding impacts on human health, both M-WWD and STP yielded comparable life cycle impacts, around 0.

Integrating life cycle assessment with quantitative microbial risk assessment for a holistic evaluation of sewage treatment plant.

An integrated approach was employed in the present study to combine life cycle assessment (LCA) with quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) to assess an existing sewage treatment plant (STP) at Roorkee, India. The midpoint LCA modeling revealed that high electricity consumption (≈ 576 kWh.day) contributed to the maximum environmental burdens.

Microbial source tracking of fecal contamination in stormwater runoff.

Concerns over fecal contamination in stormwater canals have promoted the need for pollution control strategies, including the use of microbial source tracking, to identify fecal contamination in the Greater New Orleans Area. Surface water samples were collected over a 12-month period at five canal locations within Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and the IDEXX method were used to assess the concentrations of coliforms, Escherichia coli (E.

Incidence of human associated HF183 Bacteroides marker and E. coli levels in New Orleans Canals.

With a focus on five sites in an impaired, densely populated area in the New Orleans area, we investigated the temporal and spatial variability of standard FIB and a marker of human-associated pollution (Bacteroides HF183). With all sites combined, only a weak positive correlation (r = 0.345; p = 0.

Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) of occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater treatment plants.

The current global Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome- Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic has heightened calls for studies to evaluate respiratory exposure for wastewater treatment workers. In this global first study, we assess occupational health risks to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) operators from inhalation of aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 using a Quantitative Microbiological Risk Assessment (QMRA) framework. The following considerations were used to develop the QMRA and assess the illness risks to workers: a) the proportion of the population who are infected and thus responsible for shedding SARS-CoV-2 into raw wastewater; b) the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 in raw and treated wastewater; c) the volume of aerosolized water inhaled by a WWTP operator during work; d) humidity and temperature-dependent viability of coronaviruses in aerosolized waste water; e) estimation of the amount, frequency, and duration of exposure; and f) exposure doses.

Biofilm formation, gel and esp gene carriage among recreational beach Enterococci.

Biofilm production, gel and esp gene carriage was enumerated among forty six vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) and vancomycin susceptible enterococci (VSE) beach isolates. A higher proportion (61.54%) of biofilm producers was observed among beach sand as compared to beach water enterococci isolates (30%) indicating that enterococci within the sand column may be more dependent on biofilm production for survival than their beach water counterparts.

Application of multilocus sequence analysis for molecular characterization of enterococci with virulence factors recovered from a tropical recreational beach.

Partial gene sequences of phenylalanyl-tRNA synthase alpha subunit (pheS) and RNA polymerase alpha subunit (rpoA) were evaluated for species delineation and detection of recombination among enterococci populations recovered from a bathing beach impacted by low tide river flow. At inter-species level, a maximum similarity of 86.5% and 94.

Occurrence of Enterococcus species with virulence markers in an urban flow-influenced tropical recreational beach.

Median enterococci counts of beach water samples gradually increased at statistically significant levels (χ2: 26.53, df: 4; p<0.0001) with increasing proximity to river influx.

Pseudomonas putida Strain FStm2 Isolated from Shark Skin: A Potential Source of Bacteriocin.

Bacteriocin-producing Pseudomonas putida strain FStm2 isolated from shark showed broad range of antibacterial activity against all pathogens tested except Bacillus subtilis ATCC11774, MRSA N32064, Proteus mirabilis ATCC12453, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC14506, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC51312, Salmonella mutan ATCC25175, and Aeromonas hydrophila Wbf314. Of the three growth media tested in this study, TSB was observed to support the bacteriocin activity the most. While the highest bacteriocin activity was observed for media supplemented with 1 % NaCl, there was an observed reduction in bacteriocin activity with increasing salt concentration.

High-level aminoglycoside resistance and virulence characteristics among Enterococci isolated from recreational beaches in Malaysia.

We report the first study on the occurrence of high-level aminoglycoside-resistant (HLAR) Enterococci in coastal bathing waters and beach sand in Malaysia. None of the encountered isolates were resistant to high levels of gentamicin (500 μg/mL). However, high-level resistance to kanamycin (2,000 μg/mL) was observed in 14.

Bacteriological monitoring and sustainable management of beach water quality in Malaysia: problems and prospects.

Despite the growing demand of tourism in Malaysia, there are no resolute efforts to develop beaches as tourist destinations. With no incentives to monitor public beaches or to use them in a sustainable manner, they might eventually degenerate in quality as a result of influx of pollutants. This calls for concerted action plans with a view to promoting their sustainable use.

Speciation and antimicrobial resistance of Enterococci isolated from recreational beaches in Malaysia.

We report the first study on the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant enterococci in coastal bathing waters in Malaysia. One hundred and sixty-five enterococci isolates recovered from two popular recreational beaches in Malaysia were speciated and screened for antibiotic resistance to a total of eight antibiotics. Prevalence of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium was highest in both beaches.