Metagenomic Characterisation of Opaque Beer Industry Wastewater

The availability of clean portable water has been a challenge for many Zimbabwean municipalities over the years. Currently, several towns and cities are facing water quality problems generally caused by pollution due to inadequate maintenance of waste water treatment plants, expensive waste water treatment technologies and poor institutional framework. In this study the waste water treatment efficiencies of 15 opaque beer brewery waste water treatment plants were determining by measuring how each plant altered known physico-chemical indicators of waste water quality. It was assumed that the observed degree of alteration in waste water physico-chemical properties was due a number of factors, with the plant’s microbial diversity and load being a key factor. The thinking behind this assumption is that where you have more microorganisms of many different types, you are likely to find more efficient degradation of wastewater than in the opposite scenario. As a consequence, the study also sought to determine the microbial diversity in the two extremes, i.e. in the plant with the highest and lowest degree of alteration of wastewater physico-chemical parameters.

多年来，津巴布韦诸多市政当局始终面临清洁饮用水供应不足的挑战。当前，该国多座城镇正遭遇水质问题，此类问题通常源于三类诱因：污水处理厂 (wastewater treatment plant) 维护不到位、污水处理技术成本高昂，以及体制机制不完善。本研究针对15家浑浊啤酒酿造厂配套的污水处理厂，通过测定各处理厂对已知水质理化指标的改变幅度，评估其污水处理效能。研究假设，观测到的污水处理厂进出水理化性质变化程度受多重因素影响，其中处理厂的微生物多样性与微生物负荷为核心影响因素。该假设的理论逻辑为：相较于微生物种类与丰度匮乏的场景，当处理系统内存在更多种类、更高数量的微生物时，污水的降解效率往往更高。据此，本研究同时旨在测定两类极端处理厂的微生物多样性：即对污水理化参数改变程度最高与最低的污水处理厂。