ABSTRACT
Reported health hazards for workers employed in wastewater treatment plants include exposure to bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and industrial waste. This chapter aims to compare the microbial content in indoor and outdoor air of a wastewater treatment plant, detect the presence of abnormally high concentrations, identify potentially toxigenic species of fungi, and propose effective corrective measures. It summarizes the aeromicrobial analyses carried out on samples taken at an urban community's wastewater treatment plant on August 9, 1990. Wastewater is directed from the pumping station to the pretreatment building, where self-cleaning screens remove the largest pieces of solid waste. Air samples were taken both inside and outside the plant. Sampling was performed during August, when wastewater temperature is maximal. Wastewater treatment plants seem to be comparable to compost sites and garbage-handling plants, where concentrations of microorganisms are reported to be of the same order of magnitude.
