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JPIAMR-JPI Antimikrobiell resistens

Targeted removal of ARGs and facultative pathogenic bacteria in wastewater from AMR hotspots using modular advanced treatment solutions

Alternative title: Fjerning av ARG og fakultative patogene bakterier i avløpsvann fra AMR punktkilder ved bruk av modulære avanserte behandlingsløsninger

Awarded: NOK 7.1 mill.

The objective of the HOTMATS project is to design and demonstrate effective and compact solutions for the source-treatment of wastewater emitted from antimicrobial resistance (AMR) hotspots. The intention is to stop the spread of antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic resistance genes (ARG), and other health-critical microorganisms from AMR hotspots into the public sewage network, which is one of the major AMR transmission links between the three pillars of One-Health (i.e., health of humans, animals and the environment). The interventions to be developed will unburden the sewage network and municipal wastewater treatment plants from the load of AMR, and hence reduces the release of ARB and ARGs to the environment. The suitability of different treatment principles will be investigated, novel treatment units will be designed, and the destruction of ARB and ARGs in contaminated wastewater will be demonstrated. Two pilot reactors employing the different treatment principles will be developed and their effectiveness with respect to the destruction of ARB and ARGs in concentrated wastewater streams will be assessed at a hospital, at nursery homes and at a slaughterhouse. The investigated treatment solutions are supposed to be more effective, have a lower footprint, and consume less energy and resources as compared to existing methods. This makes them attractive serving as intervening solutions at AMR hotspots, both as retrofits and for old building infrastructures and where space is limited. A socio-economy assessment, including the transfer of knowledge, methods, and technology from high income countries to low-medium income countries, is an essential part of the HOTMATS project.

Goal of HOTMATS is to design, implement and assess modular advanced solutions for effective and decentralized wastewater treatment at selected point sources of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) emergence to minimize AMR spread into the environment. The applied technologies are primarily targeting AMR pollution and pathogens in wastewater streams directly at AMR hotspots. HOTMATS moves away from ‘end-of-pipe’ approaches applied at wastewater treatment plants and address intervention in all three pillars of One-Health. The treatment principles of the used technical solutions are based on combined ozonation/advanced oxidation process, UV-C irradiation, photolysis, and membrane filtration. The superiority of the novel pilot-scale treatment systems as opposed to state-of-the art solutions will be demonstrated by collecting and treating effluents from AMR hotspots, including a hospital (OUS), nursing homes in Oslo, and slaughterhouses. The approach intends to reduce the risk associated with ARB/ARG/FPB spreading from hotspots to the downstream natural environment, and to unburden central WWTPs from AMR pollution. A cost-benefit analysis will be conducted to demonstrate the potential benefits e.g. avoidance of health risks, and costs adopting the new approaches. The modalities for transferring the technology from HICs to LMICs by conducting a willingness to pay study for uptake of decentralized treatment of AMR in LMICs will also be assessed.

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JPIAMR-JPI Antimikrobiell resistens