Removal of veterinary antibiotics from swine wastewater using anaerobic and aerobic biodegradation

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2020-03, Vol.709, p.136094, Article 136094
• Main Authors: Han, Yuefei, Yang, Linyan, Chen, Xueming, Cai, Yu, Zhang, Xinyue, Qian, Mengcheng, Chen, Xingkui, Zhao, Huihui, Sheng, Mei, Cao, Guomin, Shen, Genxiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerobic biodegradation; Anaerobic digestion; Anaerobiosis; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antibiotics; Biodegradation, Environmental; Bioreactors; Swine; Swine wastewater; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Waste Water
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136094

High amounts of antibiotics, used in animal farms for the prevention of diseases, are released back into the natural environment with a possible risk of chronic toxicity to other organisms and the development of antibiotic-resistant genes. The antibiotics, including sulfonamides and β-lactams, detected in swine wastewater were between 99.2 and 339.3 μg/L. The typical on-site swine wastewater treatment process turned out to be inadequate, reflected by the high conventional contaminant and antibiotic residuals even under a long hydraulic residence time (HRT, around 2–3 months). The lab-scale combined anaerobic and aerobic biological process showed that anaerobic digestion was mainly responsible for chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and aerobic biodegradation contributed significantly to antibiotic removal, with overall removal efficiencies of 95% for COD and 92% for antibiotics under a short HRT of 3.3 days. The removal of selected antibiotics could be a combined result of biodegradation, the balance between adsorption and desorption, and the transformation between antibiotic metabolites and their parent antibiotics. The current work provides valuable insights into the appropriate selection and optimisation of biological processes for the treatment of typical wastewater with high COD and trace antibiotics. [Display omitted] •The total antibiotic concentrations in swine wastewater were 99.2–339.3 μg/L.•The combined anaerobic and aerobic treatment removed 95% COD and 92% antibiotics.•The fate of antibiotics should be a combined result of biodegradation, adsorption and transformation.•Higher HRT for aerobic process resulted in better antibiotic degradation performance.