Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2012, 60(3), 233-240 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201260030233

Microbial contamination of the air at the wastewater treatment plant

Monika Vítězová1, Tomáš Vítěz2, Hana Mlejnková3, Tomáš Lošák1
1 Ústav agrochemie, půdoznalství, mikrobiologie a výživy rostlin, Mendelova univerzita v Brně, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Česká republika
2 Ústav zemědělské, potravinářské a environmentální techniky, Mendelova univerzita v Brně, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Česká republika
3 Oddělení hydrobiologie, Výzkumný ústav vodohospodářský T. G. Masaryka, v. v. i., Mojmírovo náměstí 16, 612 00 Brno, Česká republika

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) primarily serve to protect the environment. Their task is to clean waste water from the agglomerations. On the other hand wastewater treatment plants can also negatively affect the environment in their neighbourhood. These include emissions of odour and microorganisms. This article discusses the microbial contamination of the air, called bioaerosols in selected wastewater treatment plant for 18 000 p.e. From results of the work is evident that the largest group of microorganisms in the monitored air were psychrophilic and mesophilic bacteria and microscopic fungi. The number of psychrophilic bacteria ranged from 14 to 12 000 CFU/m3 (colony forming units in 1 m3), the number of mesophilic bacteria varied in the range from 20 to 18 500 CFU/m3 and the fungi from 25 to 32 000 CFU/m3 in the air. The amount of actinomycetes ranged from 1 to 1 030 CFU/m3 and faecal coliform bacteria from 0 to 2 500 CFU/m3. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the highest air contamination was around the activation tank, area for dewatered sludge and around the building of mechanical cleaning, depending on the season. The density of studied microorganisms correlated with air temperature.

Keywords: wastewater treatment plant, microbial air contamination, bioaerosol, bacteria
Grants and funding:

The study was financed by the Research plan No. MSM6215648905 "Biological and technological aspects of sustainability of controlled ecosystems and their adaptability to climate change", which is financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic and by Research project No. 0002071101 of Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic.

Received: January 11, 2012; Published: August 28, 2013  Show citation

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Vítězová, M., Vítěz, T., Mlejnková, H., & Lošák, T. (2012). Microbial contamination of the air at the wastewater treatment plant. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 60(3), 233-240. doi: 10.11118/actaun201260030233
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