The efficacy of subsurface flow reed bed treatment in the removal of Campylobacter spp., faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli from poultry litter

The use of poultry waste as a fertiliser on arable land is an accepted meth od of waste treatment. However, run-off from such practices may result in c ontamination of the watercourse by human pathogens. In this study the effec tiveness of using constructed wetlands as an alternative treatment for poul try manure waste was evaluated. Enumeration of Campylobacter spp., Escheric hia coli, total coliforms and total aerobes were carried out on influent an d effluent samples from reed beds loaded with poultry waste. For both seque ntial loading and continuous loading there was a statistically significant mean log reduction of 3.56 and 4.25 for E. coli, 3.2 and 3.88 for coliforms , 3.85 and 4.2 for total aerobic counts and 3.13 and 2.96 for Campylobacter spp., respectively. This method, which has been previously recognised as c ost-effective and environmentally acceptable, provides an efficient method for reducing numbers of these bacteria in poultry waste and therefore an ef fective alternative treatment for such waste or waters containing run off f rom land previously spread with poultry manure.