Comparison of the Effect of Surface and Deep Aeration Methods on Density and Type of Airborne Bacteria and Fungi in Urban Wastewater Treatment Plant (Case study: Khin-Arab and Parkand-Abad 1 Wastewater Treatment Plants)

فصلنامه آب و توسعه پایدار

Article 8, Volume 11, Issue 4 - Serial Number 34, March 2025, Pages 55-62   

Document Type: Applied Article

DOI: 10.22067/jwsd.v11i4.2407-1347

Authors

Zohreh Abbasnia¹; Shadi Abbasnia²; Mahdi Pahlevani³; Masoud Rouhbakhsh⁴; Maryam Ghasemzadeh¹; Saeid Amel Jamehdar^{* 5}

¹Faculty of Mathematical Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

²Immunology Research Center, Inflammation and Inflammatory Diseases Division, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

³Director of the Parkand-Abad Wastewater Treatment Plant, Water and Wastewater Company, Mashhad, Iran

⁴Research and Development Director of Mashhad Water and Wastewater Company, Mashhad, Iran./ Khavaran Higher Education Institute, Mashhad, Iran

⁵Antibacterial Resistance Research Center, Department of Microbiology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Science, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

One of the important problems in the field of water and wastewater treatment is the investigation of microbial air pollution and the release of suspended particles due to wastewater treatment. Harmful microorganisms in wastewater include different types of bacteria, fungi, etc. For this purpose, two wastewater treatment plants, Khin-Arab and Parkand-Abad, which use deep and surface aeration processes, were studied. Sampling was conducted seasonally with a minimum distance of one meter from barriers, and at a height of 1.5 meters above ground level at both wastewaters. Nutrient agar, McConkey agar and Subrodextrose agar were used for environmental sampling, total number of samples was 400. Then intercropping was done to identify bacteria and fungi species. Analysis of results was carried out using SPSSMODELER18 and RAWGraphs software.  Mean values for the density of bacteria were reported 26.98 CFU/plate at Khin-Arab and 26.11 CFU/plate at Parkand-Abad. Mean values for the density of fungi were reported as 4.71 CFU/plate at the Khin-Arab treatment plant and 4.40 CFU/plate at Parkand-Abad. Bacterial pollution, except during the spring, was higher at Khin-Arab compared to Parkand-Abad. The process of fungal pollution trend was similar between the two treatment plants, with no statistically significant difference observed. The two treatment plants have behaved almost the same in terms of the amount of pollution in the total sampling seasons, which can be influenced by various factors such as the larger size of the Khin-Arab treatment plant, more polluted units in the Khin-Arab treatment plant, and the difference in aeration systems.

Keywords

Wastewater Treatment Plant; Surface Aeration; Deep Aeration; Bioaerosol

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