Fate of Cryptosporidium oocysts, Giardia cysts, and microbial indicators during wastewater treatment and anaerobic sludge digestion

The extent of reduction in selected microorganisms was tested during both aerobic wastewater treatment and anaerobic digestion of sludge at the wastewater treatment plant in Ottawa to compare the removal of two encysted pathogenic protozoa with that of microbial indicators. Samples collected included the raw wastewater, the primary effluent, the treated wastewater, the mixed sludge, the decanted liquor, and the cake. All of the raw sewage samples were positive for Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts, as well as for the other microorganisms tested. During aerobic wastewater treatment (excluding the anaerobic sludge digestion), Cryptosporidium and Giardia were reduced by 2.96 log(10) and 1.40 log(10), respectively. Clostridium perfringens spores, Clostridium perfringens total counts, somatic coliphages, and heterotrophic bacteria were reduced by approximately 0.89 log(10), 0.96 log(10), 1.58 log(10), and 2.02 log(10), respectively. All of the other microorganisms were reduced by at least 3.53 log(10). Sludge samples from the plant were found to contain variable densities of microorganisms. Variability in microbial concentrations was sometimes great between samples, stressing the importance of collecting a large number of samples over a long period of time. In all cases, the bacterial concentrations in the cake (dewatered biosolids) samples were high even if reductions in numbers were observed with some bacteria. During anaerobic sludge digestion, no statistically significant reduction was observed for Clostridium perfringens, Enterococcus sp., Cryptosporidium oocysts, and Giardia cysts. A 1-2 log(10) reduction was observed with fecal coliforms and heterotrophic bacteria. However, the method utilized to detect the protozoan parasites does not differentiate between viable and nonviable organisms. On the other hand, total coliforms and somatic coliphages were reduced by 0.35 log(10) and 0.09 log(10), respectively. These results demonstrate the relative persistence of the protozoa in sewage sludge during wastewater treatment.