Viruses in Wastewater Treatment Plants

 Miroslava Hernandez,

   One of the most important inovations in the world is the biotechnological application of activated sludge (AS) systems in waterwaste treatment plants (WWTPs). The AS system utilities microbes to facilitate the disinfection process by controlling the microbial communities. WWTps have enourmous amounts of microbes; however, the viral of the AS systems has not been studied enough. In a study six WWTPs in Hong Kong were used to obtain samples. Using a mentagenomic sequence, the final data showed 50,037 viral contigs, which were further analyzed and classified into 8756 viral clusters. podoviridae was among the most prevalent of the family viruses.in the study, it was also determined that these viruses affectef the microbial community of WWTPs. Basef on the results, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes were amomh the most abundant bacteria hosts used by viruses to multiply. These findings show a rising issue in WWTPs. Viruses can alter the role of bacteria; thus, alterning the disinfection process. This is alarming because this means that communities will not get clean water for their cosumption. Having clean water is one of the best methods to prevent diseases. It is important to keep researching about WWTPs to avoid future diseases.

Yiqiang, C., Yulin , W., David, P, Martin, and Thong, Z (2021). Prokaryotic viruses impact functionai microorganisms in nutrient removal and carbon cycle in wastewater treatment plants. Nature communications 12, 5398.