English abstract
Growing volumes of both industrial and municipal wastewater coupled with an increase in water demand has created the need for wastewater treatment and water quality monitoring to protect the environment and human health. Optimizing municipal systems and requirements to safeguard the environment and quality for reuse are aspects of concern for planners and decision-makers in water resources. In Muscat, the Darseit sewage treatment plant discharges treated sewage effluent into the sea, the effect of which on the area and marine fauna is unknown. This study was undertaken to assess the physico-chemical and microbial quality of the water, soil and snail samples from the disposed point of Darseit sewage treatment plant.
Water, soil and snail samples were collected from the study area and analyzed for their physico-chemical and microbial characteristics as well as heavy metal contents. The antibiotic resistance patterns of the isolates were determined. The physico-chemical characteristics of the treated sewage effluent in Darseit wadi was within the standards of the Omani Regulations of Wastewater Reuse and Discharge, except for the concentration of Cu, Ni , Mn and Cr were above the standard of the Omani Regulations for Wastewater Reuse and Discharge.'
Serratia spp, Salmonella spp, Escherichia spp and Enterobacter spp had the highest frequencies of isolation. About 52% of the total isolates and belonging to ten genera were resistant to at least one type of antibiotic. Escherichia spp, Enterobacter spp, Photobacteria spp and Citrobacter spp were resistant to ten antibiotics. None of the strains exhibited resistance to either Trimethoprim and Neomycin.
