Distribution characteristics and removal rate of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in different treatment processes of two drinking water plants

doi:10.1007/s11783-024-1877-3

2024, Vol. 18

Issue (9) : 117 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1877-3

Distribution characteristics and removal rate of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in different treatment processes of two drinking water plants

Jun Wang^1,², Mingtao Huang¹, Bolin Li¹(

), Hassan Ibrahim Mohamed³, Huanjie Song¹, Gezi Li¹, Ying Yu¹, Han Zhang¹, Weimin Xie⁴(

)

¹. School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
². Wuhan Lingang Economic and Technological Development Zone Service Industry Development Investment Group Co. Ltd., Wuhan 430040, China
³. Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Assiut University, Assiut 71516, Egypt
⁴. Changjiang Basin Ecology Environment and Monitoring and Scientific Research Center, Changjiang Basin Ecology and Environment Administration, Ministry of Ecological Environment, Wuhan 430010, China

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Abstract

● Spatiotemporal distribution of conventional and emerging pollutants was analyzed.

● Removal of pollutants by different precipitation and filtration processes was assessed.

● Effect of ozone-activated carbon process on pollutant removal efficiency was determined.

Emerging pollutants, such as antibiotics and antibiotic-resistance genes, are becoming increasingly important sources of safety and health concerns. Drinking water safety, which is closely related to human health, should receive more attention than natural water body safety. However, minimal research has been performed on the efficacy of existing treatment processes in water treatment plants for the removal of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes. To address this research gap, this study detected and analyzed six main antibiotics and nine antibiotic resistance genes in the treatment processes of two drinking water plants in Wuhan. Samples were collected over three months and then detected and analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and fluorescence quantitation. The total concentrations of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in the influent water of the two water plants were characterized as December > March > June. The precipitation and filtration processes of the Zou Maling Water Plant and Yu Shidun Water Plant successfully removed the antibiotics. The ozone-activated carbon process increased the removal rate of most antibiotics to 100%. However, a large amount of antibiotic resistance gene residues remained in the effluents of the two water plants. The experiments demonstrated that the existing ozone-activated carbon processes could not effectively remove antibiotic resistance genes. This study provides a reference for the optimization of drinking water treatment processes for antibiotics and antibiotic resistance gene removal.

Keywords Antibiotics Antibiotics resistance genes Water treatment process unit Spatiotemporal distribution Removal efficacy

Corresponding Author(s): Bolin Li,Weimin Xie

Issue Date: 24 July 2024

Cite this article:

Jun Wang,Mingtao Huang,Bolin Li, et al. Distribution characteristics and removal rate of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in different treatment processes of two drinking water plants[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2024, 18(9): 117.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-024-1877-3
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2024/V18/I9/117

Tab.1 Required experiment equipments and instruments

Fig.1 Process flow and sampling point distribution of WP-A and WP-B.

Tab.2 MS-MS operating system parameters

Tab.3 QPCR reaction system

Fig.2 Concentration distributions of conventional pollutants in the water treatment processes in (a) December 2020, (b) March 2021, and (c) June 2021.

Fig.3 Distribution of antibiotic concentrations in the water treatment processes in (a) December 2020, (b) March 2021, and (c) June 2021.

Fig.4 Absolute quantitative logarithmic heat map of ARGs in the water treatment processes in (a) December 2020, (b) March 2021, and (c) June 2021.

Fig.5 Removal of antibiotics and ARGs by different processes.

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