Microbial community origin and fate through a rural wastewater treatment plant

Conventional wastewater treatment relies on a complex microbiota; however, much of this community is still to be characterized. To better understand the origin, dynamics and fate of bacteria within a wastewater treatment plant: untreated primary wastewater, activated sludge and post-treatment effluent were characterized. From 3163 exact sequence variants (ESVs), 860 were annotated to species-level. In primary wastewater, 28% of ESVs were putative bacterial species previously associated with humans, 14% with animals and 5% as common to the environment. Differential abundance analysis revealed significant relative reductions in ESVs from potentially human-associated species from primary wastewater to activated sludge, and significant increases in ESVs from species associated with nutrient cycling. Between primary wastewater and effluent, 51% of ESVs from human-associated species did not significantly differ, and species such as Bacteroides massiliensis and Bacteroides dorei increased. These findings illustrate that activated sludge increased extracellular protease and urease-producing species, ammonia and nitrite oxidizers, denitrifiers and specific phosphorus accumulators. Although many human-associated species declined, some persisted in effluent, including strains of potential health or environmental concern. Species-level microbial assessment may be useful for understanding variation in wastewater treatment efficiency as well as for monitoring the release of microbes into surface water and the wider ecosystem.

Automated summary

Conventional wastewater treatment relies on complex microbiota that is not yet fully characterized. This study investigated the bacterial community in different stages of wastewater treatment and found changes in species composition and abundance, with an increase in bacteria associated with nutrient cycling. While some human-associated species declined, others persisted in the effluent, including potentially harmful bacteria. Understanding microbial variation in wastewater treatment is important for efficiency and monitoring the release of microbes into the environment.