title: Effectiveness of onsite wastewater reuse system in reducing bacterial contaminants measured with human-specific IMS/ATP and qPCR.
abstract: Water shortages and the drive to recycle is increasing interest in reuse of reclaimed wastewater. Timely and cost-effective ways to detect fecal pollutants prior to reuse increases confidence of residents and neighbors concerned about reuse of reclaimed wastewater. The on-site wastewater treatment and reuse systems (OWTRS) used in this study include a septic tank, peat bioreactor, ClO(2) disinfection and land spray irrigation system. Bacteroides fragilis, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp., were tested with immunomagnetic separation/ATP bioluminescence (IMS/ATP), qPCR and culture-based methods. The results displayed a 2-log reduction in fecal bacteria in the peat bioreactor and a 5-log reduction following chloride dioxide disinfection. The fecal bacteria levels measured by IMS/ATP correlated with qPCR results: HuBac 16S (R(2) = 0.903), Bf-group 16S (R(2) = 0.956), gyrB (R(2) = 0.673), and Ent 23S (R(2) = 0.724). This is the first study in which the newly developed human-specific IMS/ATP and previously developed IMS/ATP were applied for determining OWTRS efficiency. Results of the study revealed that IMS/ATP is a timely and cost-effective way to detect fecal contaminants, and results were validated with qPCR and culture based methods. The new IMS/ATP can also be applied broadly in the detection of human-originated fecal contamination.
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Science, The Ohio State University, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Senyo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Agidi
authors.forename: Sridhar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vedachalam
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mancl
authors.forename: Jiyoung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation / Q000379:methods*; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D062065:Wastewater