Nitrification in saline wastewater with high ammonia concentration in an activated sludge unit

An integrated process for struvite recovery and nutrient removal from ship domestic sewage

Marine pollution caused by the untreated and substandard discharge of ship domestic sewage has received widespread attention. A novel integrated process for struvite recovery and nutrient removal from ship domestic sewage (SRNR-SDS) based on seawater magnesium source was developed in this study. Removal efficiencies of the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) for the activated sludge unit in SRNR-SDS process were approximately 67.61% and 41.35%, respectively, under the salinity of 7.85 g/L. The coupling-induced struvite crystallization unit significantly improved the removal efficiency of TN and TP, and the scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction demonstrated that magnesium ammonium phosphate (MAP) crystals were successfully formed on the surface of zeolite. The SRNR-SDS process had an ideal performance for pollutant removal and MAP recovery under the optimal hydraulic retention time of 20 h. The effluent concentrations of COD, NH₄⁺-N, TN and TP in SRNR-SDS process were approximately 34.73 mg/L, 4.31 mg/L, 10.07 mg/L and 0.23 mg/L, respectively, which meet the Chinese and international ship sewage discharge standards. SRNR-SDS process has obvious environmental, social and economic benefits, which could save 6.20%∼57.14% of the operation cost of ship domestic sewage treatment via MAP recovery. The results could provide theoretical and technical support for the development and application of ship sewage treatment process with the functions of pollutant removal and resource recovery.

Removal of ammonia and phenol from saline chemical wastewater by ionizing radiation: Performance, mechanism and toxicity

Saline chemical wastewater containing ammonia and toxic organic pollutants has been a challenge for conventional wastewater treatment technology. Advanced treatment is thus required. In this study, the removal of ammonia and phenol in saline chemical wastewater by radiation was investigated in detail. The results showed that chloridion in saline chemical wastewater could be transferred to •Cl and •ClO by radiation, which promoted ammonia oxidation, but inhibited phenol degradation. Solution pH affected the types of reactive species, which further affected the removal of ammonia and phenol. When ammonia and phenol co-existed in saline chemical wastewater, the removal efficiency of ammonia was depressed compared to that in the absence of phenol. Similarly, the phenol removal efficiency was also depressed in the presence of ammonia when the solution pH was lower than 7.0. Interestingly, the phenol removal efficiency was improved with increase of either chloridion concentration (2-8 g/L) or dose (2-5 kGy), which was attributed to the formation of intermediate nitrogen-centered radicals that can react with phenol. In addition, the intermediate products of phenol degradation under different conditions were identified. The acute toxicity of saline chemical wastewater after radiation treatment was evaluated. The results of this study could provide an insight into the removal of ammonia and phenol from saline chemical wastewater by radiation technology.

Insight into halotolerance of a robust heterotrophic nitrifying and aerobic denitrifying bacterium Halomonas salifodinae

Studies toward biotreating hypersaline wastewater containing different salts and halotolerant mechanism of robust strains are important but still rare. Here an isolated bacterium Halomonas salifodinae can perform simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) at 15% salinity, showing high nitrogen removal efficiencies of over 98% via response surface methodology optimization. Besides NaCl, this robust strain had high resistance to other salts (KCl, Na₂SO₄, and K₂SO₄) and can efficiently remove nitrogen in saline wastewater containing heavy metals such as Fe(II), Mn(II), Zn(II), Cr(VI), Ni(II), and Cu(II). After repeated-batch culturing at different salinities, the treated strains with different halotolerant capabilities were used as single strain model to study halotolerant mechanism via metabolic analysis. The halotolerant bacterium can convert D-proline and glutamic acid to glutamine as well as lactulose to trehalose. The accumulated intracellular compatible solutes can resist high osmotic pressure and bound water molecule in hypersaline wastewater to accomplish high-efficiency SND processes.

Nitrification performance evaluation of activated sludge under high potassium ion stress during high-ammonia nitrogen organic wastewater treatment

The recycling reverse osmosis (RO) membrane concentrate of some high-ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) organic wastewater to the biological unit could cause potassium ion (K⁺) accumulation, thereby affecting the removal of NH₄⁺-N by activated sludge. Thus, the effects of high K⁺ stress on activated sludge nitrification performance was studied. The results showed that the high K⁺ stress promoted the floc sludge to produce more extracellular polymers (EPS), which accelerated the sludge sedimentation and enriched the biomass in sequential batch reactors (SBRs). The ammonia oxidation process and nitrite (NO₂^--N) oxidation process were further analyzed in the nitrification process. High K⁺ stress enriched ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), which ensured the efficient ammonia oxidation process in SBRs, and ensured the removal rate of NH₄⁺-N was maintained above 93%. However, high K⁺ stress (15g/L KCl) inhibited the activity of NO₂^--N oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and reduced the abundance of NOB, thus leading to the accumulation of NO₂^--N, and finally worsened the nitrification performance of activated sludge. In short, the performance of activated sludge will not be inhibited when the K⁺ in the wastewater does not exceed 5.23 g/L. The results could provide a reference for the optimization of the biological performance in treating high-NH₄⁺-N organic wastewater with activated sludge coupled RO membrane treatment process.

Effect of the rapid increase of salinity on anoxic-oxic biofilm reactor for treatment of high-salt and high-ammonia-nitrogen wastewater

The washing wastewater from the desulfuration and denitration of power plants has high salt (chloride and sulfate) and ammonia-nitrogen concentrations and is difficult to treat using microbiological methods. A novel anoxic/oxic biofilm process was developed to remove ammonia from wastewater. Three rapid strategies (sulfate concentration was increased from 0 to 60 g/L in 6, 13, and 22 days (R1, R2, and R3, respectively)) were applied and produced biofilm with the same nitrification capacity as slow strategies (100-203 days). Excessive organics inhibited the nitrification capacity of the biofilm. R1 excelled at ammonia removal (from 30% to 95%, 70 mg/(L·d), with an effluent ammonia concentration of 4 mg/L) at 60 g/L salinity after the organic load was reduced. The content of extracellular polymeric substances in biofilm depended on its capacity to remove organics. Pseudomonas and Thauera were enriched in the three reactors. Controlling the organic load might prevent the sulfur cycle.

Effect of two different intermediate landfill leachates on the ammonium oxidation rate of non-adapted and adapted nitrifying biomass

A widely employed approach to minimize the detrimental effect of landfill leachates (LL) on nitrifying biomass is to adapt it to these contaminated effluents prior to use. In the study reported here the impact of different intermediate landfill leachates (intermediate 1 (ILL1) and intermediate 2 (ILL2)) and synthetic medium (SM) on the nitritation rates of non-adapted and adapted nitrifying biomass were evaluated and modeled. The models, based on previously reported models (Haldane, Edwards and Aiba), considered the effect of three different heavy metals (Cu, Ni and Zn) present in both landfill leachates. The proposed models fitted well with the different biomasses. The highest specific substrate oxidation rate (q_S) of the present study (41.85 ± 1.09 mg N-NH₄⁺ g TSS^-1 h^-1) was obtained by the non-adapted biomass using SM. The non-adapted biomass was characterized by ~5- and ~28-fold higher nitritation rates on using the different ammonium sources tested (SM, ILL1 and ILL2) when compared to the other biomasses adapted to ILL1 (~9 mg N-NH₄⁺ g TSS^-1 h^-1) and ILL2 (~1.3 mg N-NH₄⁺ g TSS^-1 h^-1), respectively. The calculated inhibition constants indicate that the inhibitory effect of the heavy metals followed the order Ni>Zn>Cu. The results reported here bring into question the commonly accepted idea that an adaptation period of the biomass is required to treat landfill leachate.

Salinity effect on freshwater Anammox bacteria: Ionic stress and ion composition

The biggest challenge to apply Anammox to treat wastewater with elevated salt content is the inhibitory effect of salinity on freshwater Anammox bacteria (FAB). Most of the research into salinity inhibition has focused on the osmotic pressure effect, while the inhibitory effect and its mechanisms induced by ion composition are poorly understood. In this study, the individual and combined effect of NaCl, KCl and Na₂SO₄ on FAB (>99% belonging to Ca. Brocadia genera) were systematically investigated by batch tests. The corresponding responses of mRNA abundance of three functional genes (including nitrite reductase gene (nirS), hydrazine synthase gene (hzsB) and hydrazine dehydrogenase gene (hdh)) under different salt conditions were analyzed. The results indicated that NaCl, KCl and Na₂SO₄ have different inhibition effects, with the 50% inhibition at 0.106, 0.096 and 0.063 M, respectively. The combined inhibition of NaCl+KCl and NaCl+Na₂SO₄ on FAB were both synergistic; while the combined inhibition of NaCl+KCl+Na₂SO₄ was additive. The responses of mRNA (of genes: nirS, hzsB and hdh) suggested NaCl inhibited the transport of ammonium; Na₂SO₄ inhibited both nitrite and ammonium transport; high salinity inhibited functional enzyme activity. These results suggest both ionic stress and ion composition contributed to the observed inhibition.

Shift of bacterial community and denitrification functional genes in biofilm electrode reactor in response to high salinity

High salinity suppresses denitrification by inhibiting microorganism activities. The shift of microbial community and denitrification functional genes under salinity gradient was systematically investigated in a biofilm electrode reactor (BER) and biofilm reactor (BR) systems. Denitrification efficiency of both BER and BR was not significantly inhibited during the period of low salinity (0-2.0%). As the salinity increased to 2.5%, BER could overcome the impact of high salinity and maintained a relatively stable denitrification performance, and the effluent NO₃^--N was lower than 1.5 mg/L. High salinity (>2.5%) impoverished microbial diversity and altered the microbial community in both BER and BR. However, two genera Methylophaga and Methyloexplanations were enriched in BER due to electrochemical stimulation, which can tolerate high salinity (>3.0%). The relative abundance of Methylophaga in BER was almost 10 times as much as in BR. Paracoccus is a hydrogen autotrophic denitrifier, which was obviously inhibited with 1.0% NaCl. The hetertrophic denitrifiers were primarily responsible for the nitrate removal in the BER compared to the autotrophic denitrifiers. The abundance and proportion of denitrifying functional genes confirmed that main denitrifiers shift to salt-tolerant species (nirK-type denitrifiers) to reduce the toxic effects. The napA (2.2 × 10⁸ to 6.5 × 10⁸ copies/g biofilm) and nosZ (2.2 × 10⁷ to 4.4 × 10⁷ copies/g biofilm) genes were more abundant in BER compared to BR's, which was attributed to the enrichment of Methylophaga alcalica and Methyloversatilis universalis FAM5 in the BER. The results proved that BER had greater denitrification potential under high salinity (>2.0%) stress at the molecular level.

Impact of salt accumulation in the bioreactor on the performance of nanofiltration membrane bioreactor (NF-MBR)+Reverse osmosis (RO) process for water reclamation

The impacts of salt accumulation, through adjusting the solid retention time (SRT), in the bioreactor on the bioprocess as well as membrane performance of a high retention nanofiltration membrane bioreactor (NF-MBR) and subsequent reverse osmosis (RO) process for water reclamation are addressed in this study. The build-up of salts (i.e., Ca, Mg, PO₄) is a function of SRT, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and membrane rejection. Despite the accumulation of salts, both NF-MBRs at SRT of 30 and 60 days, achieved (i) similar biodegradation efficiency; (ii) excellent organic removal (> 97%); and (iii) excellent ammonia removal (> 98%). Extending the SRT could improve the microbial bio-flocculation capability, but did not influence the microbial activity, viability, and community structure. However, more severe membrane fouling was observed in the NF-MBR with elevated salt levels, which was attributed to the greater formation of calcium phosphate scale and Ca-polysaccharides complex (i.e., irreversible fouling layer) as well as the cake-enhanced-osmotic-pressure (CEOP) effect. Although both NF-MBRs produced comparable quality of permeate, a higher RO membrane fouling rate was observed when the permeate of NF-MBR with SRT at 60 days was fed to the RO system, implying organic compositions in NF-MBR permeate may influence RO performance.

High-rate nitrification of saline wastewaters using fixed-bed reactors

Fixed-bed reactor (FBR) is a promising technology for realising robust high-rate nitrification. Only a few studies have investigated the effect of salinity on these systems. In this research work, the effect of gradual stepwise increase in chloride concentration (NaCl content) on the performance of high-rate nitrifying FBRs was studied at loading rates of about 1 kg NH₄⁺-N∙m^-3∙d^-1 at 25 °C. Two lab-scale FBRs having stable biofilms (adapted to 4 g Cl^-/L) grown on commercial media - plastic carrier fed with nanofiltration (NF) permeate of a landfill leachate concentrate, and clay beads fed with synthetic saline wastewater, respectively - were operated using up-flow velocities (u) of about 12 and 8 m/h, respectively, for a period of about 100 days, wherein the chloride content of the feed water was increased from 4 to 16 g/L (electrical conductivity: 13-45 mS/cm). On an average, the FBR packed with plastic carriers (u ≈ 12 m/h) offered ammonia removal percentages greater than 97%, whereas the FBR filled with clay beads due to its low bed porosity (and therefore, u ≈ 8 m/h only) gave nitrification efficiencies of about 70% only. The organic compounds contained in the NF permeate were found to temporarily inhibit the nitrifiers (causing nitrite accumulation), whereas the ammonia removed in the clay beads-packed FBR was transformed almost entirely into nitrate. Increase in chloride content did not have any observable detrimental effect on the performance of the reactors.

Performance evaluation of a hybrid sequencing batch reactor under saline and hyper saline conditions

Significant rise in concentration of saline wastewater entering the treatment plants has been resulting in many problems in the biological treatment processes. On the other hand, the specific conditions of physicochemical treatment methods for saline and hyper saline wastewater have limited their application on a large-scale. Over the past few decades, Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) process has been widely used as an efficient, well-designed and practical approach for treatment of domestic and industrial wastewater due to its cost-effectiveness and simplicity. SBR Performance can enhance by providing simultaneous suspended and attached growth of microorganisms which act as a hybrid growth. In this study, a lab-scale Hybrid Sequencing Batch Reactor (HSBR) with 6.4 l working volume was used to examine the effect of salinity (NaCl), increased from 0 to 6.7% (g NaCl/ L wastewater), on the biological treatment. Therefore, COD, MLSS, MLVSS and SVI parameters have been measured over a period of 7 months of operation. The operational parameters namely pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature were 7.5–8.5, 1.5–6.8 mg /L and 20–25 °C respectively during whole experiment. Influent COD of synthetic wastewater was maintained at 650 ± 25 mg/L. The HSBR Cycle time including, influent feeding, React, Settling and effluent discharge were 1/20/1/1 h respectively. Results indicated that by increasing salt concentration from 0 to 67.7 g NaCl/L, the COD removal efficiency reduced from 94.22 to 53.69%. Moreover, as the NaCl concentration increased, MLSS rose up to 69%, while MLVSS almost stayed constant and SVI dropped by 83%. The results indicated that the simultaneous use of suspended and attached growth of microorganisms and gradual increasing of salt content of wastewater could lead to greater biomass concentration and ultimately improvement in the degradation of organic matter. Besides, settling performance and its velocity were noticeably improved by increasing salinity.

A critical review on saline wastewater treatment by membrane bioreactor (MBR) from a microbial perspective

This work has reviewed from a microbial perspective and listed the typical studies on MBR techniques for saline wastewater treatments. When the salinity of influent is lower than 10 g/L NaCl, conventional MBR can be easily applied with adjusted operating conditions. For better biodegradation and anti-fouling ability at higher salinities (10-100 g/L), modified and hybrid MBR systems may need to be wisely designed according to the change in the microbial community and contents of EPS/SMP. To treat hypersaline wastewaters with salinities of up to 100 g/L NaCl, inoculation of halophilic bacteria has been applied in MBR works. Microbial community structures in some typical works have been discussed from a microbial perspective to benefit the identification and isolation of halophilic bacteria for future works. The following aspects are also suggested in future MBR research for saline wastewater treatment: (1) The structure design of MBR and the manufacture of advanced membranes; (2) The maintenance of the microbial biodiversity for anti-membrane fouling; (3) The metabolic mechanism for halophilic (or salt-tolerant) microorganisms against salinity shocks; (4) The revolution stage and process of microorganisms during saline wastewater treatment in MBR; (5) The effects of characteristics (cell structure, shape and metabolic pathways) of microorganisms on the salt tolerance; (6) Applying halophilic microorganisms for salinities over 150 g/L NaCl.

The cotreatment of landfill leachate and high-nitrate wastewater using SBRs: evaluation of denitrification performance and microbial analysis

Resourceful disposal of landfill leachate has always been an intractable worldwide problem. This study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of biologically treating a combined waste stream of landfill leachate and high-concentration nitrate nitrogen (high-nitrate) wastewater. Raw landfill leachate was pretreated using anaerobic fermentation and ammonia stripping to improve biodegradability. The control sequencing batch reactor (SBR, named R0) was fed only with synthetic high-nitrate wastewater with sodium acetate as the carbon source, whereas the other experimental SBR (named R1) was loaded with mixtures containing leachates. Excessive increase in leachate adversely affected the cotreatment, and it was concluded that the landfill leachate volume ratio should never exceed 7.5% of the total wastewater (14% of the initial COD) based on further batch experiments. The maximum specific denitrification rate of 58.05 mg NO₃⁻-N (gVSS h)⁻¹ was attained in R1, while that of 32.32 mg NO₃⁻-N (gVSS h)⁻¹ was obtained in R0. Illumina MiSeq sequencing revealed that adding landfill leachate did not change the fact that Pseudomonas, Thauera, and Pannonibacter dominant in the sodium acetate supported the denitrification systems, but led to the adjustment of their relative abundance. Moreover, the narG, nirK, nirS, and norB denitrifying genes exhibited increased abundance by 138–980% in the cotreated system, which was confirmed by q-PCR analyses. These findings reveal that the denitrification efficiency of activated sludge in SBR cotreated with landfill leachate and high-nitrate wastewater significantly improved, and this may contribute toward the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of biological denitrification under the blending treatment of leachate and high-nitrate wastewater.

Resourceful disposal of landfill leachate has always been an intractable worldwide problem.

Influence of biomass acclimation on the performance of a partial nitritation-anammox reactor treating industrial saline effluents

The performance of the partial nitritation/anammox processes was evaluated for the treatment of fish canning effluents. A sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was fed with industrial wastewater, with variable salt and total ammonium nitrogen (TAN) concentrations in the range of 1.75-18.00 g-NaCl L^-1 and 112 - 267 mg-TAN L^-1. The SBR operation was divided into two experiments: (A) progressive increase of salt concentrations from 1.75 to 18.33 g-NaCl L^-1; (B) direct application of high salt concentration (18 g-NaCl L^-1). The progressive increase of NaCl concentration provoked the inhibition of the anammox biomass by up to 94% when 18 g-NaCl L^-1 were added. The stable operation of the processes was achieved after 154 days when the nitrogen removal rate was 0.021 ± 0.007 g N/L·d (corresponding to 30% of removal efficiency). To avoid the development of NOB activity at low salt concentrations and to stabilize the performance of the processes dissolved oxygen was supplied by intermittent aeration. A greater removal rate of 0.029 ± 0.017 g-N L^-1 d^-1 was obtained with direct exposure of the inoculum to 18 g-NaCl L^-1 in less than 40 days. Also, higher specific activities than those from the inoculum were achieved for salt concentrations of 15 and 20 g-NaCl L^-1 after 39 days of operation. This first study of the performance of the partial nitritation/anammox processes, to treat saline wastewaters, indicates that the acclimation period can be avoided to shorten the start-up period for industrial application purposes. Nevertheless, further experiments are needed in order to improve the efficiency of the processes.

Carbon-dependent alleviation of ammonia toxicity for algae cultivation and associated mechanisms exploration

Ammonia toxicity in wastewater is one of the factors that limit the application of algae technology in wastewater treatment. This work explored the correlation between carbon sources and ammonia assimilation and applied a glucose-assisted nitrogen starvation method to alleviate ammonia toxicity. In this study, ammonia toxicity to Chlorella sp. was observed when NH₃-N concentration reached 28.03mM in artificial wastewater. Addition of alpha-ketoglutarate in wastewater promoted ammonia assimilation, but low utilization efficiency and high cost of alpha-ketoglutarate limits its application in wastewater treatment. Comparison of three common carbon sources, glucose, citric acid, and sodium bicarbonate, indicates that in terms of ammonia assimilation, glucose is the best carbon source. Experimental results suggest that organic carbon with good ability of generating energy and hydride donor may be critical to ammonia assimilation. Nitrogen starvation treatment assisted by glucose increased ammonia removal efficiencies and algal viabilities.

Effective removal of ammonia nitrogen from waste seawater using crystal seed enhanced struvite precipitation technology with response surface methodology for process optimization

Traditional biological treatment was not effective for removing nitrogen from saline wastewater due to the inhibition of high salinity on biomass activity. In this context, a method of removing ammonia nitrogen from waste seawater was proposed by struvite precipitation which was enhanced by seeding technique. The abundant magnesium contained in waste seawater was used as the key component of struvite crystallization without additional magnesium. The effects of pH and P:N molar ratio on ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency were studied. The results showed that optimum pH value was in range of 8.5-10 and the P:N molar ratio should be controlled within 2:1-3:1. XRD and SEM-EDS analyses of the precipitates proved that Ca²⁺ and excess Mg²⁺ contained in waste seawater inhibited the struvite crystallization by competing PO₄^3- to form by-products. Then, seeding technique for enhancing the struvite crystallization was investigated, and the results indicated that using preformed struvite as crystal seed significantly improved the ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency, especially when initial ammonia nitrogen concentration was relatively low. Moreover, response surface optimization experiment following a Box-Behnken design was conducted. A response surface model was established, based on which optimum process conditions were determined and interactions between various factors were clarified. At last, economic evaluation demonstrated this proposed method was economic feasible.

Removal of nutrients in saline wastewater using constructed wetlands: Plant species, influent loads and salinity levels as influencing factors

This study aims to evaluate how plant species, influent loads and salinity levels affect the removal of nutrients from saline wastewater using constructed wetlands (CWs). CWs planted with Canna indica showed the greatest removal percentages among the four tested species for nitrogen (N) (∼100%) at both low and high influent loads, and ∼100% and 93.8% for phosphorus (P) at low and high influent loads, respectively at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 7 mS/cm (25 °C). The influence of different salinity levels on plant assimilation of N and P varied with their respective concentrations; salinity (e.g., EC at 7, 10 and 15 mS/cm) even enhanced plant absorption of N and P under specific conditions. In conclusion, CWs planted with selected species can be used for the removal of N and P under a range of different salinity levels (e.g., EC at 7, 10 and 15 mS/cm, 25 °C).

Biological Treatment of Fish Processing Saline Wastewater for Reuse as Liquid Fertilizer

The fish processing sector contributes serious organic pollution loads and high salinity to receiving waters. This research aimed to study the effect of salt (NaCl) concentration on the treatment efficiency of fish processing wastewater in a continuous flow system by natural biodegradation. This research also focused on the use of a laboratory-scale bioreactor, which is operated in an aerobic continuous flow system with a 5-day cycle treatment of three different concentrations of diluted fish processing wastewater (30-, 50-, and 100-fold) with salt concentrations varying from 0% to 7% w/v NaCl. The evaluation of system performance at nine different operating hydraulic retention times (HRT) that range from 2–10 days indicated that the substrate removal rates increase with the increase in HRT along with the increasing wastewater concentration. The optimum biomass yield was found at the 8-day HRT, and the highest substrate removal was obtained at 10-day HRT. The study on 11 different salt contents in wastewater at the optimal HRTs of 10, nine, and eight days showed the existence of inhibition effects on biomass growth and substrate removal from 3.0% salt concentration. The treated wastewater without offensive odor is feasible for its reutilization as an environmental friendly liquid fertilizer.

Anoxic oscillating MBR for photosynthetic bacteria harvesting and high salinity wastewater treatment

In this study, photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) were first harvested by MBR with pendulum type oscillation (PTO) hollow fiber module in succession and on a large scale. Based on unique properties of PSB, PSB/MBR was successfully applied for high-salinity wastewater treatment. Compared with control PSB-MBR (CMBR), PSB/PTO-MBR exhibited more excellent organics removal, which was mainly attributed to much higher biomass production for utilization. Meanwhile, the influence of light irradiation and aeration on activity of PSB was investigated in detail. Results showed that PTO-MBR with 12h light irradiation proved to be a promising and economical alternative. The cycle of dark/light and anoxic had a positive effect on PSB cultivating. Moreover, PTO-MBR exhibited much higher flux than CMBR even if large amounts of biomass existed, which demonstrated that the strong shear stress on interface of liquid-membrane played important roles on membrane fouling reduction.

Efficient molasses fermentation under high salinity by inocula of marine and terrestrial origin

BACKGROUND

Molasses is a dense and saline by-product of the sugar agroindustry. Its high organic content potentially fuels a myriad of renewable products of industrial interest. However, the biotechnological exploitation of molasses is mainly hampered by the high concentration of salts, an issue that is nowadays tackled through dilution. In the present study, the performance of microbial communities derived from marine sediment was compared to that of communities from a terrestrial environment (anaerobic digester sludge). The aim was to test whether adaptation to salinity represented an advantage for fermenting molasses into renewable chemicals such as volatile fatty acids (VFAs) although high sugar concentrations are uncommon to marine sediment, contrary to anaerobic digesters.

RESULTS

Terrestrial and marine microbial communities were enriched in consecutive batches at different initial pH values (pH_i; either 6 or 7) and molasses dilutions (equivalent to organic loading rates (OLRs) of 1 or 5 g_COD L^-1 d^-1) to determine the best VFA production conditions. Marine communities were supplied with NaCl to maintain their native salinity. Due to molasses inherent salinity, terrestrial communities experienced conditions comparable to brackish or saline waters (20-47 mS cm^-1), while marine conditions resembled brine waters (>47 mS cm^-1). Enrichments at optimal conditions of OLR 5 g_COD L^-1 d^-1 and pH_i 7 were transferred into packed-bed biofilm reactors operated continuously. The reactors were first operated at 5 g_COD L^-1 d^-1, which was later increased to OLR 10 g_COD L^-1 d^-1. Terrestrial and marine reactors had different gas production and community structures but identical, remarkably high VFA bioconversion yields (above 85%) which were obtained with conductivities up to 90 mS cm^-1. COD-to-VFA conversion rates were comparable to the highest reported in literature while processing other organic leftovers at much lower salinities.

CONCLUSIONS

Although salinity represents a major driver for microbial community structure, proper acclimation yielded highly efficient systems treating molasses, irrespective of the inoculum origin. Selection of equivalent pathways in communities derived from different environments suggests that culture conditions select for specific functionalities rather than microbial representatives. Mass balances, microbial community composition, and biochemical analysis indicate that biomass turnover rather than methanogenesis represents the main limitation to further increasing VFA production with molasses. This information is relevant to moving towards molasses fermentation to industrial application.

Efficient molasses fermentation under high salinity by inocula of marine and terrestrial origin

BACKGROUND

Molasses is a dense and saline by-product of the sugar agroindustry. Its high organic content potentially fuels a myriad of renewable products of industrial interest. However, the biotechnological exploitation of molasses is mainly hampered by the high concentration of salts, an issue that is nowadays tackled through dilution. In the present study, the performance of microbial communities derived from marine sediment was compared to that of communities from a terrestrial environment (anaerobic digester sludge). The aim was to test whether adaptation to salinity represented an advantage for fermenting molasses into renewable chemicals such as volatile fatty acids (VFAs) although high sugar concentrations are uncommon to marine sediment, contrary to anaerobic digesters.

RESULTS

Terrestrial and marine microbial communities were enriched in consecutive batches at different initial pH values (pH_i; either 6 or 7) and molasses dilutions (equivalent to organic loading rates (OLRs) of 1 or 5 g_COD L^-1 d^-1) to determine the best VFA production conditions. Marine communities were supplied with NaCl to maintain their native salinity. Due to molasses inherent salinity, terrestrial communities experienced conditions comparable to brackish or saline waters (20-47 mS cm^-1), while marine conditions resembled brine waters (>47 mS cm^-1). Enrichments at optimal conditions of OLR 5 g_COD L^-1 d^-1 and pH_i 7 were transferred into packed-bed biofilm reactors operated continuously. The reactors were first operated at 5 g_COD L^-1 d^-1, which was later increased to OLR 10 g_COD L^-1 d^-1. Terrestrial and marine reactors had different gas production and community structures but identical, remarkably high VFA bioconversion yields (above 85%) which were obtained with conductivities up to 90 mS cm^-1. COD-to-VFA conversion rates were comparable to the highest reported in literature while processing other organic leftovers at much lower salinities.

CONCLUSIONS

Although salinity represents a major driver for microbial community structure, proper acclimation yielded highly efficient systems treating molasses, irrespective of the inoculum origin. Selection of equivalent pathways in communities derived from different environments suggests that culture conditions select for specific functionalities rather than microbial representatives. Mass balances, microbial community composition, and biochemical analysis indicate that biomass turnover rather than methanogenesis represents the main limitation to further increasing VFA production with molasses. This information is relevant to moving towards molasses fermentation to industrial application.

Effects of high organic load on amoA and nirS gene diversity of an intermittently aerated and fed membrane bioreactor treating landfill leachate

The effects of external carbon source addition on the nitrification and denitrification process were investigated in an intermittently aerated and fed membrane bioreactor treating landfill leachate by recording system performance, and amoA and nirS diversity dynamics using pyrosequencing. By adding 950mg/L glycerol, denitrification was optimized, resulting in total nitrogen removal efficiency of 81.0±2.4%. Under these conditions, amoA diversity was dominated by genotypes related to Nitrosomonas europaea, while increase in leachate's content and in glycerol addition by 50% led to irreversible inhibition of nitrification and enhanced ammonia accumulation, causing a severe suppression of Nitrosomonas and an increase in the relative abundance of Nitrosospira. However, this increase not only affected ammonia oxidizers, but also caused a massive shift in denitrifying community structure, resulting in the suppression of Arenimonas metalli-, Candidatus Accumulibacter- and Sulfuritalea hydrogenivorans-nirS related genotypes and the predominance of nirS-associated with Acidovorax and Thaurea sp.

Performance and microbial ecology of a nitritation sequencing batch reactor treating high-strength ammonia wastewater

The partial nitrification (PN) performance and the microbial community variations were evaluated in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for 172 days, with the stepwise elevation of ammonium concentration. Free ammonia (FA) and low dissolved oxygen inhibition of nitrite-oxidized bacteria (NOB) were used to achieve nitritation in the SBR. During the 172 days operation, the nitrogen loading rate of the SBR was finally raised to 3.6 kg N/m³/d corresponding the influent ammonium of 1500 mg/L, with the ammonium removal efficiency and nitrite accumulation rate were 94.12% and 83.54%, respectively, indicating that the syntrophic inhibition of FA and low dissolved oxygen contributed substantially to the stable nitrite accumulation. The results of the 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing revealed that Nitrospira, the only nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in the system, were successively inhibited and eliminated, and the SBR reactor was dominated finally by Nitrosomonas, the ammonium-oxidizing bacteria, which had a relative abundance of 83%, indicating that the Nitrosomonas played the primary roles on the establishment and maintaining of nitritation. Followed by Nitrosomonas, Anaerolineae (7.02%) and Saprospira (1.86%) were the other mainly genera in the biomass.

Sequential batch membrane bio-reactor for wastewater treatment: The effect of increased salinity

In this work, a sequential batch membrane bioreactor pilot plant is investigated to analyze the effect of a gradual increase in salinity on carbon and nutrient removal, membrane fouling and biomass kinetic parameters. The salinity was increased by 2gNaClL(-1) per week up to 10gNaClL(-1). The total COD removal efficiency was quite high (93%) throughout the experiment. A gradual biomass acclimation to the salinity level was observed during the experiment, highlighting the good recovery capabilities of the system. Nitrification was also influenced by the increase in salinity, with a slight decrease in nitrification efficiency (the lowest value was obtained at 10gNaClL(-1) due to lower nitrifier activity). Irreversible cake deposition was the predominant fouling mechanism observed during the experiment. Respirometric tests exhibited a stress effect due to salinity, with a reduction in the respiration rates observed (from 8.85mgO2L(-1)h(-1) to 4mgO2L(-1)h(-1)).

Nitrification at different salinities: Biofilm community composition and physiological plasticity

This paper describes an experimental study of microbial communities of three moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR) inoculated with nitrifying cultures originated from environments with different salinity; freshwater, brackish (20‰) and seawater. All reactors were run until they operated at a conversion efficiency of >96%. The microbial communities were profiled using 454-pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Statistical analysis was used to investigate the differences in microbial community structure and distribution of the nitrifying populations with different salinity environments. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis (NMDS) and the PERMANOVA test based on Bray-Curtis similarities revealed significantly different community structure in the three reactors. The brackish reactor showed lower diversity index than fresh and seawater reactors. Venn diagram showed that 60 and 78% of the total operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) guild, respectively, were unique OTUs for a given reactor. Similarity Percentages (SIMPER) analysis showed that two-thirds of the total difference in community structure between the reactors was explained by 10 OTUs, indicating that only a small number of OTUs play a numerically dominant role in the nitrification process. Acute toxicity of salt stress on ammonium and nitrite oxidizing activities showed distinctly different patterns, reaching 97% inhibition of the freshwater reactor for ammonium oxidation rate. In the brackish culture, inhibition was only observed at maximal level of salinity, 32‰. In the fully adapted seawater culture, higher activities were observed at 32‰ than at any of the lower salinities.

Simultaneous removal of aniline, nitrogen and phosphorus in aniline-containing wastewater treatment by using sequencing batch reactor

The high removal efficiencies of traditional biological aniline-degrading systems always lead to accumulation of ammonium. In this study, simultaneous removal of aniline, nitrogen and phosphorus in a single sequencing batch reactor was achieved by using anaerobic/aerobic/anoxic (A/O/A) operational process. The removal efficiencies of COD, NH4(+)-N, TN, TP were over 95.80%, 83.03%, 87.13%, 90.95%, respectively in most cases with 250mgL(-1) of initial aniline at 6h cycle when DO was 5.5±0.5mgL(-1). Aniline was able to be completely degraded when initial concentrations were less than 750mgL(-1). When DO increased, the removal rate of NH4(+)-N and TP slightly increased along with the moderate decrease of removal efficiencies of TN. The variation of HRT had obvious influence on removal performance of pollutants. The system showed high removal efficiencies of aniline, COD and nutrients during the variation of operating conditions, which might contribute to disposal of aniline-rich industrial wastewater.

Isolation of high-salinity-tolerant bacterial strains, Enterobacter sp., Serratia sp., Yersinia sp., for nitrification and aerobic denitrification under cyanogenic conditions

Cyanides (CN(-)) and soluble salts could potentially inhibit biological processes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), such as nitrification and denitrification. Cyanide in wastewater can alter metabolic functions of microbial populations in WWTPs, thus significantly inhibiting nitrifier and denitrifier metabolic processes, rendering the water treatment processes ineffective. In this study, bacterial isolates that are tolerant to high salinity conditions, which are capable of nitrification and aerobic denitrification under cyanogenic conditions, were isolated from a poultry slaughterhouse effluent. Three of the bacterial isolates were found to be able to oxidise NH(4)-N in the presence of 65.91 mg/L of free cyanide (CN(-)) under saline conditions, i.e. 4.5% (w/v) NaCl. The isolates I, H and G, were identified as Enterobacter sp., Yersinia sp. and Serratia sp., respectively. Results showed that 81% (I), 71% (G) and 75% (H) of 400 mg/L NH(4)-N was biodegraded (nitrification) within 72 h, with the rates of biodegradation being suitably described by first order reactions, with rate constants being: 4.19 h(-1) (I), 4.21 h(-1) (H) and 3.79 h(-1) (G), respectively, with correlation coefficients ranging between 0.82 and 0.89. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates were 38% (I), 42% (H) and 48% (G), over a period of 168 h with COD reduction being highest at near neutral pH.

Recovery of partial nitrification in a down-flow hanging sponge reactor by salt shock loading

Partial nitrification of ammonium-containing artificial wastewater was achieved using a down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2 h by adjusting the influent salinity to 25 g Cl L(-1) with NaCl. The effect of HRT on partial nitrification was examined by varying HRT from 1 to 4 h. Extending HRT from 2 to 4 h had the effect of decreasing nitrite production and increasing nitrates. Since partial nitrification was not completely recovered after returning the HRT to 2 h, we examined the effect of salt shock loading on the recovery of partial nitrification. Salt shock loading with 150 gCl L(-1) for 72 h resulted in the fraction of NO2-N to total inorganic nitrogen in the effluent reaching 83.0% as much as 83 days after returning the salinity to the original level. Thus, despite the time required for the restoration of partial nitrification, the effectiveness of salt shock loading to achieve this aim was verified.

Effects of salinity on performance and microbial community structure of an anoxic-aerobic sequencing batch reactor

The effects of salinity on the performance and microbial community structure of activated sludge were investigated in an anoxic-aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and [Formula: see text]-N decreased as the influent salinity increased from 0.5% to 6%. The specific oxygen utilization rate of activated sludge increased from 22.47 to 43.16 mg O2 g(-1) mixed liquid suspended solids (MLSS) h(-1) with the increase in salinity from 0.5% to 4% and subsequently decreased to 18.3 mg O2 g(-1) MLSS h(-1) at 6% salinity. The specific ammonium oxidation rate (SAOR) and specific nitrite oxidation rate (SNOR) decreased slowly at 0.5-1% salinity and then decreased rapidly with the increase in salinity from 1% to 6%. The SNOR diminished at a faster rate than the SAOR with the increase in salinity from 0.5% to 6%. The specific nitrate reduction rate (SNRR) decreased with the increase in salinity, whereas the SNRR was higher than the sum of SAOR and SNOR at 0.5-6% salinity. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles revealed obvious changes in microbial community structure at different salinities. Some microbes were capable of tolerating up to 6% salinity in the SBR, such as Planomonospora sphaerica, Nitrosomonas sp. Is32, and Denitromonas sp. D2-1.

Partial nitrification in an air-lift reactor with long-term feeding of increasing ammonium concentrations

The partial nitrification (PN) performance under high ammonium concentrations was evaluated in an airlift reactor (ALR). The ALR was operated for 253days with stepwise elevation of ammonium concentration to 1400mg/L corresponding nitrogen loading rate of 2.1kg/m(3)/d. The ammonium removal rate was finally developed to 2.0kg/m(3)/d with average removal efficiency above 91% and nitrite accumulation percentage of 80%. Results showed that the combined effect of limited DO, high bicarbonate, pH and free ammonia (FA) contributed to the stable nitrite accumulation substantially. The biomass in the ALR was improved with the inception of granulation. Precipitates on biomass surface was unexpectedly experienced which might improve the settleability of PN biomass. Organic functional groups attached to the PN biomass suggested the possible absorbability to different types of pollutant. The results provided important evidence for the possibility of applying an ALR to treat high strength ammonium wastewater.

Effect of C/N ratio on extracellular polymeric substances of activated sludge from an anoxic-aerobic sequencing batch reactor treating saline wastewater

The effect of C/N ratio on extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of activated sludge was investigated in an anoxic-aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treating saline wastewater. The protein (PN) and protein/polysaccharide (PN/PS) ratio in the loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS) increased with the decrease of C/N ratio, whereas the PS in the LB-EPS decreased. The PS, PN and PN/PS ratio in the tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) were independent of C/N ratio. Two fluorescence peaks in the LB-EPS and TB-EPS were identified at excitation/emission (Ex/Em) wavelengths of 275-280/335-340 nm and 220-225/330-340 nm by three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively. These peaks in LB-EPS and TB-EPS were, respectively, associated with tryptophan protein-like substances and aromatic protein-like substances. The tryptophan protein-like fluorescence peaks in LB-EPS showed blue shift along the Ex axis and red shift along the Em axis with the decrease of C/N ratio. Fourier transform infrared spectra suggested that the variation of C/N ratio had more distinct effect on the functional groups of protein in the LB-EPS than those in the TB-EPS. The sludge volume index value decreased with the increase of LB-EPS, but there was no correlation between SVI and TB-EPS.

Effect of salinity on extracellular polymeric substances of activated sludge from an anoxic-aerobic sequencing batch reactor

The effect of salinity on extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of activated sludge was investigated in an anoxic-aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The contents of loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS) and tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) were positively correlated with the salinity. The polysaccharide (PS) and protein (PN) contents in both LB-EPS and TB-EPS increased with the increase of salinity. With the increase of salinity from 0.5% to 6%, the PN/PS ratios in LB-EPS and TB-EPS decreased from 4.8 to 0.9 and from 2.9 to 1.4, respectively. The four fluorescence peaks in both LB-EPS and TB-EPS identified by three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy are attributed to PN-like substances and humic acid-like substances. The Fourier transform infrared spectra of the LB-EPS and TB-EPS appeared to be very similar, but the differences across the spectra were apparent in terms of the relative intensity of some bands with the increase of salinity. The sludge volume index showed a linear correlation with LB-EPS (R(2)=0.9479) and TB-EPS (R(2)=0.9355) at different salinities, respectively.

Effects of salinity on the characteristics of biomass and membrane fouling in membrane bioreactors

This study investigated the effects of high salinity on the performance and membrane fouling of membrane bioreactor (MBR) with saline wastewater. Synthetic wastewaters containing 5-20 g/L salts (NaCl) were treated in identical lab-scale (7 L) MBRs monitoring removals of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and ammonia. Increase in salt concentrations did not significantly change the removal efficiency of DOC in the MBRs. However, the ammonia removals decreased from 87% to 46% with increasing salt concentrations. PCR-DGGE analysis indicated changes in the microbial communities' composition due to high salinity; and the changes in microbial composition in turn have affected the performance of the MBRs. Membrane fouling was accelerated by the increased pore blocking resistance at higher salt concentrations. Analysis results of physicochemical and biological characteristics of biomass (EPS, floc size, zeta potential) verified the impacts of high salinity on the increased membrane fouling.

Trends in salinity and inorganic nitrogen compounds in the Berre lagoon (1994-2011) bacterial activities and nitrogen budgets

The Berre lagoon receives freshwater from two natural rivers but the implementation of the hydroelectric power plant led to strong changes in the ecosystem structure and functioning. Sediments are important sites for nitrogen cycling because the O(2) sharp gradient allows oxic nitrification as well as anoxic denitrification and anammox to operate in close proximity. Seasonal and short-term variations in the coastal nitrogen processes were quantified at two stations: SA1 located in the northern part of the lagoon directly under the inflows of freshwater and SA3 in the southern part of the lagoon influenced mainly by the marine water inflows. Results revealed that most of the nitrate formed by nitrification was denitrified. Total denitrification was the main N(2) removal process. The high primary production based on N-NH(4)(+) might be explained by mineralization rates, while the primary production based on N-NO(3)(-) was not fully explained by nitrification.

State of the art of osmotic membrane bioreactors for water reclamation

In the last few years, extensive research has been dedicated to development of a novel osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR), which combines high-retention osmotic separation and biological reactions in a single vessel. Although promising results have been reported in the literature, some challenges associated with applications of OMBR remain unresolved at the present stage of development, including lack of a high performance forward osmosis (FO) membrane, identification of an ideal draw solute and effect of salt accumulation on biological activity. Therefore, this paper attempts to provide a comprehensive review of state of the art of OMBR for water and wastewater reclamation.

Performance of halophilic marine bacteria inocula on nutrient removal from hypersaline wastewater in an intermittently aerated biological filter

Bioaugmentation was applied by introducing marine halophilic bacteria into an intermittently aerated biological filter (IABF) to improve the removal of nutrient pollutants from hypersaline synthetic wastewater (salinity: 3-13%). The bio-enhanced IABF showed improved performance on nutrient removal in the salinity range of 4-10% compared with the control IABF. The enhancement of eliminating chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen and total phosphorus peaked at salinities of 7-10%, 7-9% and 5-7%, respectively, where the corresponding removal efficiencies were increased by about 8.6%, 15.7% and 17.3%, respectively. Inoculation with marine bacteria improved the degradation of nitrogenous organics and denitrification in nitrogen transformation. In hypersaline environments biofilter recovery after backwashing was significantly prolonged whereas the time required in the bio-augmented IABF was comparatively short. The results of dehydrogenase activity assays demonstrated that inoculation with marine bacteria improved the activity of biofilm in hypersaline environments.

Ammonia pollution characteristics of centralized drinking water sources in China

The characteristics of ammonia in drinking water sources in China were evaluated during 2005-2009. The spatial distribution and seasonal changes of ammonia in different types of drinking water sources of 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and 4 municipalities were investigated. The levels of ammonia in drinking water sources follow the order of river > lake/reservoir > groundwater. The levels of ammonia concentration in river sources gradually decreased from 2005 to 2008, while no obvious change was observed in the lakes/reservoirs and groundwater drinking water sources. The proportion of the type of drinking water sources is different in different regions. In river drinking water sources, the ammonia level was varied in different regions and changed seasonally. The highest value and wide range of annual ammonia was found in South East region, while the lowest value was found in Southwest region. In lake/reservoir drinking water sources, the ammonia levels were not varied obviously in different regions. In underground drinking water sources, the ammonia levels were varied obviously in different regions due to the geological permeability and the natural features of regions. In the drinking water sources with higher ammonia levels, there are enterprises and wastewater drainages in the protected areas of the drinking water sources.

Image analysis application for the study of activated sludge floc size during the treatment of synthetic and real fishery wastewaters

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE

Fishery wastewater treatment can be compromised due to seasonal production. The use of sequencing batch reactors is not completely successful, despite flexibility being one of the principal advantages. Most research on activated sludge is performed using synthetic wastewater to ensure a stable and constant feed. The current work compared biomass morphology and settling ability using image analysis of synthetic and real fishery wastewaters, with and without NaCl addition.

RESULTS

The final effluent presented higher turbidity for both wastewaters after NaCl addition, and lower SVI values. For synthetic wastewater, NaCl addition led to the total aggregates' area (TA) increase from 1.46 to 2.09 mm(2)/μL, alongside the growth of intermediate aggregates into larger aggregates. The addition of NaCl to the fishery wastewater led to a decrease of the TA from 4.43 to 1.72 mm(2)/μL. The biomass composition decreased in larger and intermediate structures, opposite to the smaller aggregates' area percentage increase.

DISCUSSION

NaCl addition to synthetic wastewater incited flocculation increasing sludge settling ability. A slight aggregate disruption was responsible for a turbidity increase. A strong deflocculation was identified in fishery wastewater with NaCl from the decrease of intermediate and large aggregates. This contrasted with pinpoint flocs release, which increased the turbidity levels. CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND PERSPECTIVES: It could be established that synthetic wastewater biomass flocculation and fishery wastewater biomass deflocculation, observed during 0.5% NaCl experiments, were related to sludge settling and effluent turbidity changes. Furthermore, the biomass changes obtained with synthetic wastewater cannot be extrapolated to fishery wastewater.

Effect of different salt adaptation strategies on the microbial diversity, activity, and settling of nitrifying sludge in sequencing batch reactors

The effect of salinity on the activity of nitrifying bacteria, floc characteristics, and microbial community structure accessed by fluorescent in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis techniques was investigated. Two sequencing batch reactors (SRB₁ and SBR₂) treating synthetic wastewater were subjected to increasing salt concentrations. In SBR₁, four salt concentrations (5, 10, 15, and 20 g NaCl/L) were tested, while in SBR₂, only two salt concentrations (10 and 20 g NaCl/L) were applied in a more shock-wise manner. The two different salt adaptation strategies caused different changes in microbial community structure, but did not change the nitrification performance, suggesting that regardless of the different nitrifying bacterial community present in the reactor, the nitrification process can be maintained stable within the salt range tested. Specific ammonium oxidation rates were more affected when salt increase was performed more rapidly and dropped 50% and 60% at 20 g NaCl/L for SBR₁ and SBR₂, respectively. A gradual increase in NaCl concentration had a positive effect on the settling properties (i.e., reduction of sludge volume index), although it caused a higher amount of suspended solids in the effluent. Higher organisms (e.g., protozoa, nematodes, and rotifers) as well as filamentous bacteria could not withstand the high salt concentrations.