Authors:
Yousuf Al-Hakim
1
;
Kosmas Dragos
1
;
Kay Smarsly
1
;
Silvio Beier
2
and
Claudia Klümper
3
Affiliations:
1
Institute of Digital and Autonomous Construction, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
;
2
Chair of Urban Bioengineering for Resource Recovery, Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany
;
3
Laboratory of Environmental Analysis, Department HAM 2, Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Keyword(s):
Antibiotics, Antibiotic Resistance, Monitoring, Software Design, Wastewater Surveillance.
Abstract:
Antibiotics are important drugs for treating infectious diseases. The extensive use of antibiotics for human, veterinary, and agricultural purposes has led to the permanent release of antibiotics into the environment, particularly into municipal wastewater. In turn, the widespread release of antibiotics into the environment has led to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes (collectively referred to as “antibiotic resistance”), which reduce the effectivity of antibiotic treatment. To counteract antibiotic resistance, surveillance of the release of antibiotics into the environment is necessary. Municipal wastewater surveillance may provide insights into the release of antibiotics into the environment. Current municipal wastewater surveillance systems, dedicated to antibiotics concentrations, rely on the ad-hoc use of third-party software, which may compromise the efficiency and user-friendliness of municipal wastewater surveillance systems. Design
ing software systems dedicated to the surveillance of antibiotics concentrations in municipal wastewater, based on well-established software design concepts, has received scarce research attention. In this study, a software system is proposed, which serves as a technological basis for the surveillance of the concentration of antibiotics in municipal wastewater in an efficient and user-friendly manner. The software system implements well-established software design concepts and is capable of conducting on-demand data analysis, as well as providing various user interfaces. The software system is validated using both data derived from simulations and real-world wastewater data recorded from a wastewater treatment plant. The results showcase the efficiency and user-friendliness of the proposed software system for the surveillance of antibiotics concentrations in municipal wastewater.
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