Biological nutrient removal efficiency in treatment of saline wastewater

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Title: Biological nutrient removal efficiency in treatment of saline wastewater
Author(s): Intrasungkha, Nugul; Keller, Juerg; Blackall, Linda L.
Abstract: There is very little known about the effectiveness of wastewater treatment systems for saline wastewater generated by seafood processing industries, aquaculture and tourism activities. In particular, the effect of salinity on nitrogen and phosphorus removal in wastewater treatment processes is not well understood. Therefore we devised experiments to examine the treatment of highly saline wastewater, by using artificial seafood processing wastewater, for removal of nitrogen and phosphorus. Lab scale sequencing batch reactors (SBR) were initially operated at low, and then at increasing salt levels, to determine the overall effects of salinity on the nutrient removal performance. The microbial populations during these experiments were monitored to determine the specific effect of salinity on the various bacterial groups responsible for nutrient removal. The methods used were whole cell probing with fluorescently labelled RNA-directed oligonucleotide probes. Experimental data showed that the SBRs achieved good biological nutrient removal (BNR) when salinity levels in the influent were low (0.03 percent to 0.2 percent NaCl) but showed difficulties with biological phosphorus removal at salinity levels of 0.5 percent. It was found that there was a dominance of Grampositive bacteria with a high mol percent G+C in their DNA in the SBR treating wastewater with NaCl at 0.03 percent to 0.2 percent. The addition of acetate to improve BNR performance increased the proportion of bacteria from the beta Proteobacterial subclass.
Publication type: Journal article
Source: Water Science and Technology: incorporating the Proceedings of the 3rd AWWA/IAWQ Regional Conference on Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR3), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 30 November-04 December 1997, Vol. 39, no. 6 (1999), pp. 183-190
Publication year: 1999
Keyword(s): Acetic acid; Bacterial DNA; Bacterial RNA; BNR; Fluorescent in-situ hybridization; Food processing; Oligonucleotide probe; Phosphorus; SBR; Sodium chloride; Wastewater treatment
Publisher: IWA Publishing
ISSN: 0273-1223
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0273-1223(99)00138-9
Peer reviewed