Monitoring phenol degrading Candida and bacterial pathogens in sewage treatment plant

AbstractThe fate and seasonal variation of several microbial pathogens (MPs), including Salmonella spp. (SS), Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EC), Listeria monocytogenes (LM), Staphylococcus aureus (SA), biomarker bacteria, and Candida spp. (CS) were investigated in a municipal sewage treatment plant (MSTP) located in Zagazig City, Egypt, employing an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A/A/O) process to monitor their incidences in both influent and effluent throughout the seasons of 2011. Enhancing the activity of Candida populations and the bacterial biodegradation activities in the anaerobic–anoxic–oxic process is an axial pathway for the removal of phenol. In summer season, phenol degradation in MSTP was about 85% which was higher than that in winter season (60%). The chemical treatments routinely used in MSTP can effectively reduce 70% of MPs in wastewater in summer and more than 80% in winter. The concentrations of microbial populations in the effluent were much higher in summer and spring than in winter and autumn, w...