Removal of pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes by a multi barrier system for wastewater reuse

Wastewater reclamation is becoming an increasingly important alternative for sustainable water resources management in many regions around the world. Wastewater reclamation should be considered as viable option for agricultural irrigation since the latter is by far the largest consumer of high quality water. However, detrimental microbial effects associated with reclaimed water may hinder the use of recycled water for agricultural irrigation. An effective multi barrier approach, based on biological, physical and chemical action, is proposed and evaluated in the present paper for mitigating possible health effects associated to the use of treated wastewater in agriculture. The proposed approach showed high efficiency in removing all the investigated parameters, including microbiological indicators of faecal contamination and antibiotic resistance genes.