Flow Control - Jan 2012
news notes research development Clean Wastewater Creates Super Bacteria A University of Minnesota umn edu study reveals that the release of treated municipal wastewater even wastewater treated by the highest quality treatment technology can have a significant effect on the quantities of antibiotic resistant bacteria often referred to as super bacteria in surface waters The study also suggests that wastewater treated using standard technologies probably contains far greater quantities of antibiotic resistant genes but this likely goes unnoticed because background levels of bacteria are normally much higher than the water studied in this research The study published in Environmental Science and Technology a journal of the American Chemical Society acs org is led by civil engineering associate professor Timothy LaPara at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities College of Science and Engineering The research was part of a project in a graduate level civil engineering class focused on environmental microbiology Antibiotics are used to treat numerous bacterial infections but the everincreasing presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria has raised substantial concern trendlines about the future effectiveness of antibiotics In response there has been increasing focus on environmental reservoirs of antibiotic resistance over the past several years Antibiotic use in agriculture has been heavily scrutinized while the role of treated municipal wastewater has received little attention as a reservoir of resistance Antibiotic resistant bacteria develop in the gastrointestinal tracts of people taking antibiotics These bacteria are then shed during defecation which is collected by the existing sewer infrastructure and passed through a municipal wastewater treatment facility In this study the Ph D students and professor examined the impact of municipal wastewater in Duluth Minn on pristine surface waters by gathering water samples from the St Louis River Duluth Superior Harbor and Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota After solids and biological matter are removed the Duluth wastewater treatment is one of only a few in the country that filter water a third time through a mixed media filter to remove additional particles of bacteria and nutrients Standard wastewater treatment treats water twice to remove solids and biological matter This was a unique and ideal location for this study because of the exemplary wastewater treatment mixed with surprisingly pristine surface waters with very low background levels of bacteria that wouldnt mask our results LaPara said in a prepared statement Previous studies in which treated municipal wastewater was implicated as a source of antibiotic resistance were more convoluted because multiple sources of antibiotic resistance genes existed such as agricultural activity and industrial wastewater discharges While the levels of overall bacteria were still relatively low in the surface water samples researchers found that the quantities of antibiotic resistant genes and human specific bacteria were typically 20 fold higher at the site where treated wastewater was released into the Duluth Superior Harbor compared to nearby surface water samples To read the full research paper Tertiary Treated Municipal Wastewater is a Significant Point Source of Antibiotic Resistance Genes into Duluth Superior Harbor visit http z umn edu lapara11 Global Membrane Separation Market to Reach 16 Bil by 2017 The global market for membrane separation technologies is forecast to reach 16 billion by 2017 according to a new market research report by Global Industry Analysts Inc GIA strategyr com Growth in the market will be spurred by increasing efforts by end use industries to curtail use of water and minimize costs on waste disposal according to the Membrane Separation Technologies Report Additional factors fuelling market growth include increasing concerns over water quality stringent regulations with respect to the quality of food and beverages and a shift toward replacing conventional filtration equipment with membranebased technologies The market for membrane separation technologies is expected to exhibit significant growth in demand attributed to the wide adoption by end use segments such as the water wastewater treatment and food beverage industries replacement of traditional filtration equipment and increased focus on the purity levels of process fluids With the growth in demand for high products stringent regulations environmental concerns and exhausting natural resources membrane separation technologies are forecast to witness significant growth over the long term According to the report the United States continues to remain the largest regional market for membrane separation Growth in the global market is expected to be driven by large developing countries worldwide that reel under stressed domestic water resources Asia Pacific represents the fastest growing regional market displaying a CAGR of about 83 percent over the analysis period according to GIA Microfiltration membrane systems continue to be the largest segment in the market Due to its wide adoption GIA says the microfiltration market is relatively more mature than other membranes Alternatively GIA indicates growth in the market will be spearheaded by reverseosmosis membrane systems given their ability to cost effectively and efficiently achieve very high levels of purity With respect to end use applications water treatment remains the single largest enduse application for membrane separation technologies while pharmaceuticals is projected to be the fastest growing enduse application 10 January 2012 Flow Control
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