The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded $9 million in research grants to address knowledge gaps and better identify and manage the risk of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
According to a press release on the EPA’s website, the projects receiving this funding will measure the environmental health impact of AMR in wastewater and advance our understanding in AMR evolution and spread.
“Grantees will study wastewater treatment systems across the country and review past literature and genomic data to assess AMR risk in wastewater,” the EPA said in its release. “Projects involve developing a risk assessment framework, conducting a systematic review of genomic data and evaluating the fate of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and genes in wastewater treatment processes.”
Antimicrobial resistance in the environment is an escalating public health concern, particularly regarding its spread into surface waters. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) can transfer between humans, animals, and the environment, making it harder to treat infections in both. The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified AMR as one of the top threats to human health. Increasing evidence points to natural and treated water environments playing a significant role in the development and spread of AMR.
Wastewater treatment plants are a major potential source and receptor of ARB and ARGs. These facilities handle a mix of pathogens, resistance genes, and antimicrobial drug residues from diverse sources such as industrial waste, households, and hospitals. This creates a high concentration of pathogens entering treatment systems.
As treated wastewater is often discharged into aquatic ecosystems, these environments can become pathways for resistant pathogens and genes to spread to humans and animals via irrigation, recreation, or drinking water. Although drinking water treatment processes are generally effective at reducing ARB and ARGs, both have been detected in treated drinking water.
Because ARB and ARGs evolve rapidly and can transfer among humans, animals, and the environment, predicting when and where resistance will emerge is challenging. More research is needed to better understand the occurrence and impact of AMR in treated municipal wastewater effluent and biosolids. Additionally, new studies are essential to assess the effect of AMR on receiving waters and to evaluate the risks associated with AMR in treated wastewater discharge, water reuse, and biosolids.
About the Projects
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore.
Project Title: Prevalence, Abundance, and Fate of Antibiotics, Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, and their Determinant Genes in U.S. Wastewater Systems
Principal Investigator: Tala Navab-Daneshmand
Award Amount: $2,350,211
The goal of this project is to assess the fate of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs), and antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants across the U.S. Researchers will study 40 wastewater treatment facilities from five different regions, selected to represent diverse geographical conditions, population demographics, and wastewater sources, over a two-year period. Samples will be taken throughout the wastewater and biosolids treatment processes. The team will also perform a systematic literature review of U.S.-based wastewater metagenomic data, develop a comprehensive library, and conduct a meta-analysis to examine how seasonal and regional variations, as well as treatment processes, impact the wastewater resistome. This study will provide valuable insights into how wastewater treatment affects the spread and removal of AMR markers, considering different treatment methods, operational and site-specific factors, watershed geography, and socioeconomic variables.
View the research abstract from Oregon State University.
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.
Project Title: A Multistate Study to Establish a Risk Assessment Framework for the AMR in Surface Water Attributable to Municipal Wastewater and Biosolids
Principal Investigator: Xu Li
Award Amount: $2,374,999
Researchers will develop a risk assessment framework to estimate human health risks from antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) in surface waters affected by municipal wastewater and biosolids. The project will adopt an integrated approach, combining field data, model simulations, and risk assessment techniques. Collaborating with institutions in Hawaii, California, Nebraska, Iowa, and New Jersey, the research will identify the relative contributions of municipal, nonmunicipal, and natural sources to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the surface waters of river systems across these states. Fate-and-transport models for ARB and ARGs in runoff and rivers will be created, along with an exposure assessment model for ARB and a semi-quantitative risk characterization model for ARGs. These tools will enhance stakeholders' understanding of AMR risks and aid in the development and prioritization of mitigation strategies.
View the research abstract from the University of Nebraska.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wis.
Project Title: Understanding the Role of Wastewater Treatment for Mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance: Leveraging Historical Trajectories, Current Day Mass Balances, and Clinical Relevance
Principal Investigator: Ryan Newton
Award Amount: $2,038,572
Grantees will identify effective treatment processes for removing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and assess the risks posed by wastewater treatment systems compared to those from industrial and agricultural sectors contributing to AMR. Researchers will integrate ARG and ARB quantification with genomic and metagenomic DNA sequencing to track changes in clinically significant genotypes as wastewater moves from facility influent through the treatment process and into final outflows. The team will also compare current wastewater resistance profiles to those from samples collected over the past decade, as well as to ARBs and ARGs from hospital clinics and both upstream (sewer overflows) and downstream (river transect) environments. This project will provide essential insights into whether existing treatment systems are effectively eliminating AMR. Additionally, these analyses will help quantify and understand the clinical significance of AMR in discharged wastewater, thereby informing the risks associated with wastewater discharge.
View the research abstract from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The Water Research Foundation, Denver, Colo.
Project Title: Quantifying Wastewater Sources of Antibiotic Resistance to Aquatic and Soil Environments and Associated Human Health Risks
Principal Investigator: Lola Olabode
Award Amount: $2,374,575
The team will conduct a comprehensive study on antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) in wastewater treatment plant effluent and biosolids to measure and model their behavior, including the potential for ARB/ARG increases or decreases in aquatic and soil environments. Researchers will compare AMR sources from wastewater with other community sources across the U.S., considering different wastewater effluent and management practices. A tailored risk assessment modeling framework will be developed to address the unique challenges of AMR. This framework will evaluate potential mitigation strategies, identify scenarios where AMR spread is most likely, and enhance exposure estimates.
View the research abstract from the Water Research Foundation.
GPRS Helps Protect Your Wastewater Systems
As researchers study ARB and ARGs in wastewater systems, maintaining the integrity of those systems is crucial to ensuring wastewater does not contaminate our soil.
GPRS provides a comprehensive suite of professional sewer pipe and sewer system inspection services to ensure your wastewater infrastructure continues working for you.
Our NASSCO-certified Project Managers utilize remote-controlled sewer inspection rovers equipped with sondes: instrument probes that we can locate from the surface utilizing electromagnetic (EM) locators so that we can map your sewer system while we’re investigating its integrity.
For smaller-diameter pipes, we utilize push-fed sewer scope cameras that are also equipped with sondes. And when flow can’t be suspended for an investigation, we offer dye tracing and smoke testing services to help you map your wastewater infrastructure.
From sewer pipes to skyscrapers, GPRS Intelligently Visualizes The Built World® to keep your projects on time, on budget, and safe.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What size pipes can GPRS inspect?
Our NASSCO-certified Video Pipe Inspection (VPI) Project Managers have the capabilities to inspect pipes from 2” in diameter and up.
What deliverables does GPRS offer when conducting VPI services?
GPRS is proud to offer WinCan reporting to our Video Pipe Inspection clients. Maintaining sewers starts with understanding sewer condition, and WinCan allows GPRS Project Managers to collect detailed, NASSCO-compliant inspection data. GPRS Project Managers not only inspect the interior condition of sewer pipes, laterals, and manholes – they can also provide a map of their location. The GPRS Mapping & Modeling Department can provide detailed GPS overlays and CAD files. Our detailed WinCan/NASSCO reports contain screenshots of the interior condition of the pipe segments that we inspect, as well as a video file for further evaluation, documentation, and/or reference.
Can you locate pipes in addition to evaluating their integrity?
Yes! Our SIM and NASSCO-certified Project Managers use VPI technology equipped with sondes, which are instrument probes that allow them to ascertain the location of underground utilities from an inaccessible location. This allows them to use electromagnetic (EM) locating to map sewer systems at the same time they’re evaluating them for defects.
Does GPRS offer lateral launch services?
Yes, we offer lateral launch capabilities as part of our standard Video Pipe Inspection services.
