Assessment of the Physicochemical Qualities and Prevalence of Escherichia coli and Vibrios in the Final Effluents of Two Wastewater Treatment Plants in South Africa: Ecological and Public Health Implications

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Olayinka Osuolale¹  Anthony Okoh¹ 

[1] SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa; E-Mail:

关键词: final effluent;    wastewater;    Vibrio;    E. coli;    physicochemical;    public health;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph121013399

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The final effluents of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were evaluated for their physicochemical and microbiological qualities over a period of 12 months. The physicochemical parameters assessed ranged as follows both plants. The ranges of values for the physicochemical are: pH (3.9–8.6), total dissolved solids (86.50–336.3 mg/L), electrical conductivity (13.57–52.50 mS/m), temperature (13–28 °C), nitrate (0–21.73 mg/L), nitrite (0.01–0.60 mg/L), orthophosphate (1.29–20.57 mg/L), turbidity (4.02–43.20 NTU), free chlorine (0.05–7.18 mg/L), dissolve oxygen (3.91–9.60 mg/L), biochemical oxygen demand (0.1–9.0 mg/L) and chemical oxygen demand (4.67–211 mg/L). The microbiological assessment for both WWTPs revealed the presence of E. coli in counts ranging between 0 and 1.86 × 10⁴ CFU/100 mL and Vibrio counts ranging between 0 and 9.93 × 10³ CFU/100 mL. We conclude that these WWTPs are important point sources of pollution in surface water with potential public health and ecological risks.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.