Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep;94(9):e10783.
doi: 10.1002/wer.10783.

Utility of constructed wetlands for treatment of hospital effluent and antibiotic resistant bacteria in resource limited settings: A case study in Ujjain, India

Vivek Parashar  1 , Surya Singh  2 , Manju R Purohit  1   3 , Ashok J Tamhankar  1   3 , Dharmpal Singh  1 , Madhanraj Kalyanasundaram  4 , Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg  3 , Vishal Diwan  2   3
Affiliations

Utility of constructed wetlands for treatment of hospital effluent and antibiotic resistant bacteria in resource limited settings: A case study in Ujjain, India

Vivek Parashar et al. Water Environ Res. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Increasing generation of wastewater and its indiscriminate disposal is detrimental to human and animal health. Resource-limited settings often struggle for efficient wastewater treatment systems owing to lack of funds and operational difficulties. Therefore, alternative treatment systems involving low expenditure and simplistic operations are need of the hour. Constructed wetlands are one such alternative that can efficiently remove variety of pollutants from wastewater. In this study, we have assessed the utility of constructed wetlands for treatment of hospital wastewater in Ujjain. An in-house wetland system was designed and constructed using Typha latifolia and Phragmites karka. Results showed that wetland was efficient for removal of various physico-chemical and biological contaminants, namely, biochemical-oxygen-demand (77.1%), chemical-oxygen-demand (64.9%), turbidity (68.3%), suspended-solids (63%), total-phosphorus (58.7%), nitrate-nitrogen (33%), fecal coliforms (96.8%), and total coliforms (95.6%). Paired t test revealed that removal efficiencies for various parameters were significantly different among Phragmites, Typha, and control cells (p ≤ 0.05). Study also depicted that most of the bacterial isolates in inlet wastewater were selectively resistant to antibiotics (ciprofloxacin and sulphamethaxazole) as well and these isolates were also removed. Precisely, Typha was fairly suitable for antibiotic resistant bacteria removal. Thus, constructed wetlands were found to be one of the suitable options for wastewater treatment in resource-limited settings. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Constructed wetlands are one of the suitable options for wastewater treatment in resource limited settings. These systems involve wetland vegetation, soil, and associated microbial assemblages to improve the water quality. Typha and Phragmites were found to be efficient for treating the hospital wastewater. Experiments showed that antibiotic resistant bacteria may also be removed through constructed wetland systems. Easy operation, cost effectiveness, and efficiency are important attributes.

Keywords: Phragmites; Typha; antibiotic resistant bacteria; constructed wetlands; wastewater.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no competing interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Schematic of the designed constructed wetland (CW)
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Removal efficiency of constructed wetland cells for physico‐chemical and biological parameters
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Seasonal variation in the removal efficacy of pollutants by different constructed wetland cells: (a) BOD, (b) COD, (c) turbidity, (d) TSS, (e) TP, (f) NO3‐N, (g) total coliforms, and (h) fecal coliforms
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Antibiotic resistance pattern (%) of E. coli isolates for ciprofloxacin (CPF) and sulphamethaxazole (SMX) in influent (raw sewage) and effluents of constructed wetland cells (dotted lines in the graph indicate the antibiotic resistance pattern [%] in the raw sewage)
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Seasonal variation in antibiotic resistance pattern (%) of E. coli isolates for ciprofloxacin (CPF) (a) and sulphamethaxazole (SMX) (b) in influent (raw sewage) and effluents of constructed wetland cells (dotted lines in the graph indicate the antibiotic resistance pattern [%] in the raw sewage in different seasons)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alvarez, J. A. , Avila, C. , Otter, P. , Kilian, R. , Istenic, D. , Rolletschek, M. , Molle, P. , Khalil, N. , Amersek, I. , Mishra, V. K. , Jorgensen, C. , Garfi, A. , Carvalho, P. , Brix, H. , & Arias, C. A. (2017). Constructed wetlands and solar‐driven disinfection technologies for sustainable wastewater treatment and reclamation in rural India: SWINGS project. Water Science and Technology, 76, 1474–1489. 10.2166/wst.2017.329 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Angassa, K. , Leta, S. , Mulat, W. , Kloos, H. , & Meers, E. (2019). Evaluation of pilot‐scale constructed wetland with Phragmites karka for phytoremediation of municipal wastewater and biomass production in Ethiopia. Environmental Processes, 6, 65–84. 10.1007/s40710-019-00358-x - DOI
    1. APHA . (Ed.) (2005). American public health association: Standard methods for examination of water and wastewater in (21st ed.). APHA.
    1. Barancheshme, F. , & Munir, M. (2018). Strategies to combat antibiotic resistance in the wastewater treatment plants. Frontiers in Microbiology, 8, 2603. 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02603 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Billore, S. K. , Singh, N. , Sharma, J. K. , Dass, P. , & Nelson, R. M. (1999). Horizontal subsurface flow gravel bed constructed wetland with Phragmites karka in Central India. Water Science and Technology, 40, 163–171. 10.2166/wst.1999.0158 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources