The fate and behavior of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in decentralized household wastewater treatment facilities (DHWWTFs) are unclear. In this study, targeting on a representative DHWWTF that receive all wastewater from a residential complex having 150 households, the transfer, elimination and accumulation of tetG, tetM, sul1, sul2 and intl1 were quantitively studied through real-time PCR-based quantification, mass balance evaluation and the existing state analysis based on size fractionation. Significant abundance changes of the genes were observed in involved biological reactions and the sedimentation process due to microbial growth and decomposition as well as the accumulation of the genes to sludge. tetG and sul1 increased in their fluxes against respective input in the influent. Although substantial portions of the increased genes were found in excess sludge compared to the flux of genes in the influent, those remaining in the discharge were still high, with an average about 3.4 × 1014 copies/d. The abundance of all four genes (tetG, tetM, sul1and sul2) in both water and sludge phases showed a general trend of reduction as sludge accumulated gradually in its storage tank within two months after desludging. Classification of ARGs based on particle sizes (>250 μm, 125-250 μm, 75-125 μm, 25-75 μm, 3-25 μm, <3 μm) indicated that while the major part of ARGs were distributed in particles with larger sizes (125-250 μm), ARGs in smaller particles (3-25 μm) and free ARGs (<3 μm) still existed, which may pose a greater threat to water environment due to their poor settleability. The results of this study can benefit the optimization of on-site maintenance and operation of decentralized wastewater treatment facility for elimination of the transfer of ARGs.
Keywords: Activated sludge; Antibiotic resistance genes; Biological treatment; Decentralized wastewater treatment.
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