Effects of antibiotics on characteristics and microbial resistance of aerobic granules in sequencing batch reactors

Abstract

The response of characteristics and microbial resistance of aerobic granules to sulfamethazine, oxytetracycline and ciprofloxacin at ppb level in swine wastewater was investigated in this study. Results showed that no significant changes in physical strength, average granules size and settling property of aerobic granules were observed with target antibiotics exposure (P > 0.05). However, compared to the control group, the protein/polysaccharide ratio and zeta potential of aerobic granules in t