Experiences from wastewater treatment trials using ozone and UV-irradiation to mitigate AMR dissemination from AMR hotspots

Today’s urban wastewater treatment plants (UWWTPs) are incapable to fully remove ARBs, ARG and antibiotic resistance driving substances from wastewater, contributing to the release of AMR into the environment, potentially entailing health hazards. Advanced wastewater treatment locally at AMR sources, such as hospitals, and centralized at WWTPs could provide possible interventive solutions. However, currently knowledge about the effectiveness, large-scale application, long-term operational stability, and economic conditions, is scarce, despite being urgently needed by stakeholders. In the framework of the CORNELIA project, the objective was to develop and demonstrate compact pilot-scale treatment technologies using ozone and UV-irradiation, to remove ARBs and ARG in wastewaters from hospital and UWWTPs. Results and experiences from the test campaigns will be presented.