Chemical and Microbiological Assessment of Wastewater Discharged along the Mediterranean Sea

Wafa Hassen, Ines Mehri, Asma Beltifa, Angela Giorgia Potortì, Nabila Khellaf, Ranya Amer, Joris Van Loco, Abdennaceur Hassen, Giuseppa Di Bella, Nezar H. Khdary and Hedi Ben Mansour
Additional contact information
Wafa Hassen: Research Unit of Analysis and Process Applied to the Environmental (APAE), Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology of Mahdia, University of Monastir, Mahdia 5100, Tunisia
Ines Mehri: Water Research & Technology Centre (C.E.R.T.E), Borj Cédria Technology Park, P.O. Box 273, Soliman 8020, Tunisia
Asma Beltifa: Research Unit of Analysis and Process Applied to the Environmental (APAE), Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology of Mahdia, University of Monastir, Mahdia 5100, Tunisia
Angela Giorgia Potortì: BioMorf Department, University of Messina, 98168 Messina, Italy
Nabila Khellaf: Department of Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Badji Mokhtar University, P.O. Box 12, Annaba 23000, Algeria
Ranya Amer: City of Scientific Research and Technology Applications (SRTA-City), Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute (GEBRI), New Borg El Arab City P.O. Box 21934, Alexandria, Egypt
Joris Van Loco: Laboratory of Chemical Residues and Contaminants, Direction of Food Medicines and Consumer Safety, SCIENSANO, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Abdennaceur Hassen: Water Research & Technology Centre (C.E.R.T.E), Borj Cédria Technology Park, P.O. Box 273, Soliman 8020, Tunisia
Giuseppa Di Bella: BioMorf Department, University of Messina, 98168 Messina, Italy
Nezar H. Khdary: King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh 12354, Saudi Arabia
Hedi Ben Mansour: Research Unit of Analysis and Process Applied to the Environmental (APAE), Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology of Mahdia, University of Monastir, Mahdia 5100, Tunisia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: The large discharges of wastewater in different natural receiving environments, particularly the marine environment, have massively contributed to pollution. This study examined the physicochemical and microbiological quality of wastewater discharged along the Mediterranean Sea. This investigation is one of the few works carried out by scientists along with the Mediterranean countries. Wastewater sampling was carried out in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Italy. Analyses confirmed that the quality of treated wastewater was always better than the ones registered as raw wastewater. In addition, the quality of the treated wastewater and seawater appeared to be adequate and satisfied the standard and recommended limits in vigor in all these Mediterranean countries. These results showed that the wastewater treatment process used in Italy allowed a higher reduction in most tested parameters (COD: 80.44%, BOD 5 : 58.9%, OM: 70.74%, TOC: 78.4%). The bacteriological quality of these waters and their diversification was assessed by the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) technique. Firmicutes, Gamma-Proteobacteria, and Beta-Proteobacteria in 42% of the DGGE DNA bands, and predominately some lineages affiliated to cultivable and non-cultivable clones of Bacteroides (58%), were found. The examination of antibiotic susceptibility at the level of 18 strains isolated from various arbitrary water samples showed that most of these isolates exhibited resistance to at least one antibiotic family, and 11 isolates exhibited 100% resistance against aztreonam. This result confirms the large antibiotic-resistance spreading and circulation registered these last decades in the natural environment, conditioned by the extensive and non-controlled use of antibiotics for human therapy and animal feeding.

Keywords: wastewater; seawater quality; bacterial diversity; antibiotic resistance-sensitivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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