Modeling Escherichia Coli Dynamics in Multi-Stage Wastewater Treatment Systems

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation is threatened by Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination in wastewater, which poses grave dangers to the environment and public health. Microbial and chemical contaminants are present in wastewater from various sources, and treatment difficulties are growing due to urbanization. While biofilm formation, disinfectant resistance, and particle attachment increase bacterial survival, pathogenic E. coli strains can cause serious illness. To explain the dynamics of E. coli in wastewater systems, this study develops a deterministic mathematical model. MATLAB solvers and uncertainty and sensitivity techniques based on Latin hypercube sampling and partial rank correlation coefficients are used to analyze the model. The findings promote more effective wastewater treatment and microbial risk management by identifying key drivers of persistence.