Sterols indicate water quality and wastewater treatment efficiency

摘要: As the world's population continues to grow, water pollution is presenting one of biggest challenges worldwide. More wastewater being generated and demand for clean increasing. To ensure safety health humans environment, highly efficient treatment systems, a reliable assessment quality pollutants are required. The advance holistic approaches management increasing use ecological technologies, such as constructed wetlands waste stabilisation ponds (WSPs), challenge appropriateness commonly used indicators. Instead, additional indicators, which direct measures processes involved in human waste, have be established provide an in-depth understanding system performance. In this study we identified sterol composition treated WSPs assessed suitability levels bioindicator efficiency WSPs. progressed WSPs, relative abundance faecal sterols, coprostanol, epicoprostanol, 24-ethylcoprostanol, sitostanol decreased significantly changed significantly. Furthermore, were found correlated with BOD, TSS E. coli. Three seven ratios that previously been track sewage detected signal effluent however, others influenced by high prevalence sterols originating from algal fungal activities. This finding poses concern environmental studies, because can go unnoticed. conclusion, their indicators during They complement quality, essential information on overall performance whether pond underperforming terms stabilising waste. Such when aim improve plant, build new plants or expand existing infrastructure. Future work should at further establishing broader scale across natural engineered systems.