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Comparative performance of activated sludge and waste stabilization ponds for the removal of pollutants and pathogens in full-scale wastewater treatment plants in Egypt
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  • Published: 05 February 2026

Comparative performance of activated sludge and waste stabilization ponds for the removal of pollutants and pathogens in full-scale wastewater treatment plants in Egypt

  • Marwa A. Kamel1,
  • Neveen Magdy Rizk1,
  • Mahmoud Gad2,
  • Gamal K. Hassan3,
  • Aly Al-Sayed3,
  • Mariam E. Fawzy3,
  • Mohamed Azab El-Liethy4 &
  • …
  • Ibrahim Ahmed Hamza1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Environmental sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Water resources

Abstract

The discharge of inadequately treated wastewater poses serious public health and environmental risks worldwide. In this study, the performance of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) was evaluated for their ability to remove pathogenic viruses and bacteria, organic and nitrogen compounds, bacteriophages, and bacterial indicators. WWTP-A employs activated sludge treatment technology, whereas WWTP-B utilizes waste stabilization ponds (WSP). The removal rates of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) were higher in WWTP-A than in WWTP-B, indicating the limited efficiency of the WSP system in treating heavily contaminated sewage. In WWTP-A, bacterial removal rates ranged between 3.9log10 for Listeria spp. and 6.2 log10 for Escherichia coli (E. coli), while in WWTP-B, removal ranged from 3.2 log10 for Pseudomonas aeruginosa to 5.3 log10 Fecal Streptococci. The viral reduction rate by WWTP-A ranged from 0.9 log10 for crAssphage to 3 log10 for human adenovirus (HAdV), whereas in WWTP-B, viral removal ranged between 0.8 log10 for somatic coliphages (SOMCPH) and 3 log10 for crAssphage. CrAssphage exhibited significant influent–effluent reduction in both WWTP-A and WWTP-B (Wilcoxon test, p < 0.05). In contrast, significant HAdV reduction was observed only in WWTP-A, SOMCPH only in WWTP-B, while RoV showed no significant reduction in either system. These findings highlight limitations in the ability of conventional treatment processes to consistently remove viral contaminants from treated effluent and underscore the need for improved management strategies to enhance effluent quality.

Data availability

Data sets generated or analysed during the current study are available upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Mohamed Marouf and Dr. Sherif Abd-Elmaksoud for their help in sample processing.

Funding

Open access funding provided by The Science, Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) in cooperation with The Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB). This study was funded by the Science, Technology and Innovation Funding Authority (STDF), Egypt (Grant number 44201).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Virology Lab., Water Pollution Research Department, Environment and Climate Change Research Institute, National Research Centre, 33 El- Buhouth, Giza, 12622, Egypt

    Marwa A. Kamel, Neveen Magdy Rizk & Ibrahim Ahmed Hamza

  2. Water Pollution Research Department, Environment and Climate Change Research Institute, National Research Centre, 33 El- Buhouth, Giza, 12622, Egypt

    Mahmoud Gad

  3. Water Pollution Research Department, Environment and Climate Change Research Institute, National Research Centre, 33 El- Buhouth, Giza, 12622, Egypt

    Gamal K. Hassan, Aly Al-Sayed & Mariam E. Fawzy

  4. Environmental Microbiology Lab., Water Pollution Research Department, Environment and Climate Change Research Institute, National Research Centre, 33 El- Buhouth, Giza, 12622, Egypt

    Mohamed Azab El-Liethy

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  1. Marwa A. Kamel
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  2. Neveen Magdy Rizk
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  4. Gamal K. Hassan
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  6. Mariam E. Fawzy
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  8. Ibrahim Ahmed Hamza
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Contributions

M.A.K methodology, investigation, writing—original draft, review and editing. N.M.R. investigation, formal analysis, review and editing. M.G. conceptualization, resources, data curation, review and editing. G.K.H. investigation, formal analysis, visualization, writing, review and editing. A.A.S. methodology, investigation, formal analysis, review and editing. M.E.F. investigation, formal analysis, review and editing. M.A.E. methodology, investigation, formal analysis, writing, review and editing. I.A.H. conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, visualization, writing – review and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ibrahim Ahmed Hamza.

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Kamel, M.A., Rizk, N.M., Gad, M. et al. Comparative performance of activated sludge and waste stabilization ponds for the removal of pollutants and pathogens in full-scale wastewater treatment plants in Egypt. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35933-4

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  • Received: 01 December 2025

  • Accepted: 08 January 2026

  • Published: 05 February 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35933-4

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Keywords

  • Activated sludge
  • Waste stabilization ponds
  • Physicochemical parameters
  • Microbial indicators
  • Bacteria
  • Viruses
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