Aquatic environments in Kosovo are increasingly exposed to anthropogenic pressures, particularly from untreated municipal wastewater and industrial discharges, resulting in the deterioration of river water quality and aquatic ecosystems and highlighting the need for improved environmental monitoring and management strategies (KEPA, 2020). According to the World Health Organization´s (WHO) Guidelines for drinking-water quality, fecal indicator bacteria (Escherichia coli, enterococci) and thermotolerant coliforms (Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Citrobacter), are used in microbiological water quality assessment to indicate fecal contamination and the potential presence of enteric pathogens (WHO, 2022).
In Kosovo, information regarding bacterial communities and the environmental dissemination of antimicrobial resistance remains limited despite growing concerns about wastewater pollution and its potential impacts on environmental and public health (One health perspective). To address this knowledge gap and to support the establishment of future environmental monitoring strategies, a comprehensive investigation was initiated including a hospital effluent, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent and effluent water, and river water (Erenik and Sitnica River). This project aims to comprehensively characterize bacterial communities in wastewater and aquatic environments in Kosovo and to investigate the impact of wastewater discharges on bacterial community composition and antimicrobial resistance.