Effect of wastewater treatment plant effluent on microbial function and community structure in the sediment of a freshwater stream with variable seasonal flow

The effects of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharge on the ecology of bacterial communities in the sediment of a small, low-gradient stream in South Australia are examined. The results have suggested the cause and effect between nutrients loading into the creek, shift in bacterial communities through habitat change and alteration of capacity for biogeochemical cycling of N.