Thermophilic campylobacters in two sewage treatment plants in Libya

Monitoring of thermophilic campylobacters in two Libyan seawage treatment plants has shown that the communities of Tripoli and Sabratha almost certainly harbour campylobacters capable of producing enteritis. The plant in Tripoli eradicated the campylobacters from effuent by secondary treatment with trikling filtration followed by chlorination. The plant ant Sabratha, which was not working well at the time of sampling, reduced campylobacter numbers by only 53% and 74% during secondary teatment in a stabilization pond, and a reservoir in Sabratha, which received effluent from the stabilization pond and which supplies water for irrigation, also contained thermophilic campylobacters. In both treatment plants campylobacters were eradicated from sewage sludge by digestion and drying.