Assessing the impact of low organic loading on effluent safety in wastewater treatment: Insights from an activated sludge reactor study

In this study, an organic loading (OL) of 300 mg/(L d) was set as the relative normal condition (OL-300), while 150 mg/(L d) was chosen as the condition reflecting excessively low organic loading (OL-150) to thoroughly assess the associated risks in the effluent of the biological wastewater treatment process. Compared with OL-300, OL-150 did not lead to a significant decrease in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, but it did improve dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) levels by similar to 63 %. Interestingly, the dissolved organic matter (DOM) exhibited higher susceptibility to transformation into chlorinated disinfection by-products (Cl-DBPs) in OL-150, resulting in an increase in the compound number of Cl-DBPs by similar to 16 %. Additionally, OL-150 induced nutrient stress, which promoted engendered human bacterial pathogens (HBPs) survival by similar to 32 % and led to similar to 51 % increase in the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) abundance through horizontal gene transfer (HGT). These findings highlight the importance of carefully considering the potential risks associated with low organic loading strategies in wastewater treatment processes.