I – RACE

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and greenhouse gas emissions are two of the most pressing societal challenges of our time. Integrated Constructed Wetlands (ICWs) have been used to treat a wide range of wastewater from agricultural and food processing industries in Ireland over the past 20 years.
Previous research by this group and others has shown that ICWs can reduce the levels of antimicrobial resistant organisms (AROs) released into the environment through treated water. In addition, appropriately constructed and maintained ICWs may help sequester carbon.
I-RACE will investigate how ICWs serving different sectors remove AROs from wastewater. The project will also examine their potential to act as carbon sinks.
The project brings together expertise from several disciplines. Researchers in microbiology, bioinformatics and veterinary public health will work alongside experts in hydrology and engineering. Together, they will investigate the construction, operation and function of ICWs.

Actions

• Determine the occurrence of AMR Enterobacterales of public health significance in water entering and leaving ICWs across different sectors. The project will also assess how effectively these ICWs reduce AROs in treated water.
• Analyse changes over time in the composition and function of microbial populations entering and leaving ICWs from different sectors. This will include analysis of the associated resistome, virulome and mobilome.
• Determine the rates of carbon build-up from activities within ICWs and assess their carbon sequestration capacity.
• Assess how individual cells within ICWs contribute to ARO removal, nutrient reduction and carbon sequestration.

Project Partners

Funding

The EPA Research Programme 2021–2030 and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine fund this project (2022-HE-1145).
The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications funds the programme.

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