WWTPs effectively treat both contaminants and pathogens, including antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and genes (ARGs). However, tertiary treatment may have specific value for applications where more targeted treatment may be important, such as pre-treatment for hospital wastes. Clay minerals react with H2O2 to form oxidative species, which are highly reactive with contaminants and might be applied for in situ oxidation of contaminants for wastewater treatment purposes. In this project, three different concentrations of H2O2 were combined with 0.5 g/L of NAu-1 to treat secondary WWTP effluent over 8h. Real time quantitative PCR was used to quantify the efficiency of each option with removal rates for the target genes are presented in Fig. 1. qPCR analysis revealed that higher H2O2 doses resulted in further removal of tetM and int1 genes, while a slight difference was observed between 0.26 and 10 mM H2O2 for the 16s rDNA. Although reductions varied with different H2O2 doses, log removal rates were near or greater than 1.0 for both 0.26 mM H2O2/NAu-1 and 10 mM H2O2/NAu-1. Interestingly, int1 removal always were greater than tetM or 16S, suggesting different mechanisms may exist. Results show H2O2 can be activated by clay minerals to form reactive oxidative species, suggesting this technology has potential for reducing ARBs and ARGs in waste streams.

Advanced oxidation treatment using clay minerals to remove antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater

256th National Meeting (2018)

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