Inactivation of indicator bacteria in treated municipal wastewater and biosolids by gamma irradiation.

Summary: Increasing growth of the world’s population, waste minimization policies and agricultural needs make the recycling of domestic wastewater quite a desirable practice. Factors like environmental and public health risks must be taken into account when considering treated wastewater for field irrigation and biosolids for land application. Wastewater disinfection is achieved via chlorination or UV-irradiation. In this study, an alternative disinfectant, gamma radiation is investigated. It is found that 60 Co-gamma irradiation could be effectively used for the disinfection of effluents from the municipal wastewater treatment plants, and gamma radiation dose of at least 5000 Gy was required for the inactivation Enterococcus sp., the most resistant bacteria among