The Possibility of Early Detection of Dangerous Toxicity of Biologically Treated Wastewater Using a Bioelectronic System for Continuous Analysis of Cardiac Activity of Crayfish
摘要
A long-term study (30-day) of the cardiac activity characteristics (biomarkers) variability for freshwater crayfish Pontastacus leptodactylus, used as bioindicators of the quality of biological wastewater treatment, was studied for the biologically treated wastewater from the South Western Sewage Treatment Plants (SWSTP) in St. Petersburg. When comparing the values of heart rate (HR) for the crayfish at rest (HRrest), in a state of spontaneous nocturnal activity (HRactiv), and in a state of maximum stress caused by the so-called “handling” (HRstress) for the same representative group of crayfish before and after prolonged exposure to biologically treated wastewater, it was confirmed the good functional state of crayfish—the necessary condition for their functioning as bioindicators of changes in the quality of biological treatment. The such wastewater character composition is similar in water quality to that of aquaculture closed-loop fish farming systems based on the use of a water biological treatment system in the intensive production of various aquacultures. The absence in the sewage water the toxic substances of technical origin which can enter the treated wastewater together with the sewage water was controlled during such an experiment, using the traditional approach based on the survival rate of Daphnia magna Strauss, according to the standard procedure for determining mortality and changes in fertility of Daphnia. It is proposed to use the developed instrumental measuring system (BioArgus type) as one of the methods of independent objective assessment of the effectiveness of water purification systems for the fish, crayfish and shellfish farming systems of circulating and closed-loop water supply installations with a closed water supply cycle.