Study on wastewater toxicity using ToxTrak™ method

ToxTrak™ method is an analytical tool for the measurement of toxicity of drinking water, wastewater and natural water. It is based upon the estimation of the inhibitive effect on bacterial respiration processes. The main aim of this work was to test the applicability of ToxTrak™ method in the assessment of wastewater toxicity in a full-scale WWTP in Poland. In order to achieve it, the study was divided into two parts. First, the validation of ToxTrak™ method was performed. Second, wastewater toxicity was monitored in the long- and short-term campaigns. Validation of ToxTrak™ method revealed that the indigenous biomass (mixed cultures of activated sludge microorganisms) was more sensitive than Escherichia coli for both materials (wastewater and phenol) tested. The values of degree of inhibition determined for phenol towards indigenous biomass and E. coli were close to each other, and no statistically significant difference between them was found. It confirmed the reliability of the results obtained with the help of ToxTrak™ test. The toxicity of the effluent was always lower than that of the influent and the linear correlation between them was found. Despite, the decrease of wastewater toxicity in the WWTP, the effluents were ranked as toxic or highly toxic according to the classification of wastewater based upon the acute toxicity.