Occurrence of Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Cyclospora in influent and effluent water at wastewater treatment plants in Arizona

We investigated the occurrence of Czyptosporidium, Giardia, and Cyclospora at two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Arizona over a 12-month period, from August 2011 to July 2012. Influent and effluent wastewater samples were collected monthly, and protozoan (oo)cysts were concentrated using an electronegative filter, followed by the detection of protozoa using fluorescent microscopy (Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts) and PCR-based methods (Ciyptosporidium spp., Giardia intestinalis, and Cyclospora cayetanensis). The concentration of Giardia cysts in the influent was always higher than that of Cuptosporidium oocysts (mean concentration of 4.8-6.4 x 10(3) versus 7.4 x 10(1)-1.0 x 10(2) (oo)cysts/1) with no clear seasonality, and logio reduction of Giardia cysts was significantly higher than that of Cuprosporidium oocysts for both WWTPs (P < 0.05). Login reduction of Giardia cysts at the WWTP utilizing activated sludge was significantly higher than the other WWTP using trickling filter (P = 0.014), while no statistically significant difference between the two WWTPs was observed for the logio reduction of Cryptosporidium oocysts (P = 0.207). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that G. intestinalis strains identified in wastewater belonged to two assemblages, All and B, which are potentially infectious to humans. C cayetanensis was also detected from both influent and effluent using a newly developed quantitative PCR, with the highest influent concentration of 1.2 x 10(4) copies/I. Our results demonstrated that these protozoan pathogens are prevalent in the study area and that efficacy of the conventional wastewater treatment processes at physically removing (oo)cysts is limited. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.