Combined effect of erythromycin, tetracycline and sulfamethoxazole on performance of anaerobic sequencing batch reactors

Abstract

The combined effects of erythromycin-tetracycline-sulfamethoxazole (ETS) and sulfamethoxazole-tetracycline (ST) antibiotics on the performance of anaerobic sequencing batch reactors were studied. A control reactor was fed with wastewater that was free of antibiotics, while two additional reactors were fed with ETS and ST. The way in which the ETS and ST mixtures impact COD removal, VFA production, antibiotic degradation, biogas production and composition were investigated. The effects of the ETS mixtures were different from the ST mixtures, erythromycin can have an antagonistic effect on sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline. The anaerobic pre-treatment of these antibiotics can represent a suitable alternative to the use of chemical treatments for concentrations at 10 mg/L of S and 1 mg/L of T; 2 mg/L of E, 2 mg/L of T and 20 mg/L of S for the ST and ETS reactors respectively, which corresponds to min 70% COD removal efficiency.