Report on the validation of pilot-SBBGR for wastewater treatment and reuse

In the present project report, a larger group of physical, chemical and microbiological parameters was considered for evaluating the effectiveness of the SBBGR system for municipal wastewater treatment and reuse. SBBGR enhancement with chemical (by peracetic acid, PAA) or physical (by UV radiation) disinfection was also evaluated. The monitored parameters were chosen according to the current Italian regulation and their representativeness. In particular, the microbial indicators were chosen considering that human pathogens that could be derived from the reuse of wastewater belong to the domains of bacteria, viruses and protozoa, and these microorganisms are characterized by different physiological characteristics and consequently different survival rates in wastewater treatments. Therefore, microorganisms belonging to these domains were selected to evaluate the quality of the treated wastewater. The selected microbial indicators were total coliforms, E. coli and Salmonella (representative of bacteria), Clostridium perfringens spores (representative of spore-forming bacteria), Somatic coliphages (representative of viruses) and Giardia lamblia cysts and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts (representative of protozoa).