Effect of ultrasonic and ozone pretreatment on the fate of enteric indicator bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes, and anaerobic digestion of dairy wastewater

In this study, the effect of ultrasound (US), ozone and US combined with ozone (US/ozone) pretreatments on the fate of enteric indicator bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and anaerobic digestion (AD) of dairy wastewater was investigated. The pretreatment conditions included US power 200 W, ozone concentration 4.2 mg O₃/L, and pretreatment time 0-30 min. The results showed that US/ozone pretreatment was effective in the inactivation of enteric indicator bacteria. Total coliforms and enterococci were reduced by 99% and 92% after 30 min US/ozone pretreatment. Pretreatments could not decrease ARGs in absolute concentration, but could decrease ARGs in relative abundance. In the subsequent AD process, methane production increased more than 10% with 20 min ozone or 20 min US/ozone pretreatments. Pretreatment-AD together obviously inhibited the enrichment of ARGs in relative abundance. This study provided a pretreatment way to enhance methane production and to prevent the enrichment of ARGs.