Evaluation of sludge reduction and phosphorus recovery efficiencies in a new advanced wastewater treatment system using denitrifying polyphosphate accumulating organisms

Nitrate input inhibited the biodegradation of erythromycin through affecting bacterial network modules and keystone species in lake sediments

Antibiotic contamination and excessive nitrate loads are generally concurrent in aquatic ecosystems. However, little is known about the effects of nitrate input on the biodegradation of antibiotics. In this study, the effects of nitrate input on microbial degradation of erythromycin, a typical macrolide antibiotic widely detected in lake sediments, were investigated. The results showed that the nitrate input significantly inhibited the erythromycin removal and such an inhibitory effect was strengthened with the increased input dosages. Nitrate input significantly increased sediment nitrite concentration, indicating enhanced denitrification under high nitrate pressure. Bacterial network module and keystone species analysis showed that nitrate input enriched the keystone species involved in denitrification (e.g., Simplicispira and Denitratisoma). In contrast, some potential erythromycin-degrading bacteria (e.g., Desulfatiglandales, Pseudomonadales, Nitrospira) were inhibited by nitrate input. The variations in dominant bacterial groups implied competition between denitrification and erythromycin degradation in response to nitrate input. Based on the partial least squares path modeling analysis, keystone species (total effect: 0.419) and bacterial module (total effect: 0.403) showed strong association with erythromycin removal percentage. This indicated that the inhibitory effect of nitrate input on erythromycin degradation was mainly explained by bacterial network modules and keystone species. These findings will help us to assess the bioremediation potential of antibiotic-contaminated sediments suffering from excessive nitrogen discharge concurrently.

Technologies for reducing sludge production in wastewater treatment plants: State of the art

This review presents the state-of-the-art sludge reduction technologies applied in both wastewater and sludge treatment lines. They include chemical, mechanical, thermal, electrical treatment, addition of chemical un-coupler, and predation of protozoa/metazoa in wastewater treatment line, and physical, chemical and biological pretreatment in sludge treatment line. Emphasis was put on their effect on sludge reduction performance, with 10% sludge reduction to zero sludge production in wastewater treatment line and enhanced TS (total solids) or volatile solids removal of 5-40% in sludge treatment line. Free nitrous acid (FNA) technology seems good in wastewater treatment line but it is only under the lab-scale trial. In sludge treatment line, thermal, ultrasonic (<4400kJ/kg TS), FNA pretreatment and temperature-phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD) are promising if pathogen inactivation is not a concern. However, thermal pretreatment and TPAD are superior to other pretreatment technologies when pathogen inactivation is required. The new wastewater treatment processes including SANI®, high-rate activated sludge coupled autotrophic nitrogen removal and anaerobic membrane bioreactor coupled autotrophic nitrogen removal also have a great potential to reduce sludge production. In the future, an effort should be put on the effect of sludge reduction technologies on the removal of organic micropollutants and heavy metals.

Removal of endocrine-disrupting chemicals and conventional pollutants in a continuous-operating activated sludge process integrated with ozonation for excess sludge reduction

Sludge ozonation is considered as a promising technology to achieve a complete reduction of excess sludge, but as yet its effects on the removal of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and conventional pollutants (i.e., COD, N and P) in the activated sludge process are still unclear. In this study, two lab-scale continuous-operating activated sludge treatment systems were established: one was operated in conjunction with ozonation for excess sludge reduction, and the other was operated under normal conditions as control. The results indicate that an ozone dose of 100 mg O₃ g(-1)SS led to a zero yield of excess sludge in the sludge-reduction system during a continuous-operating period of 45d. Although ozonation gave a relatively lower specific oxygen uptake rate of activated sludge, it had little effect on the system's removal performance of COD and nitrogen substances. As a plus, sludge ozonation contributed a little more removal of target EDCs (estrone, 17β-estrodiol, estriol, 17α-ethinylestradiol, bisphenol A, and 4-nonylphenol). However, the total phosphorus removal declined notably due to its accumulation in the sludge-reduction system, which necessitates phosphorus recovery for the activated sludge process.

The effect of operational parameters of the process of sludge ozonation on the solubilisation of organic and nitrogenous compounds

An evaluation of various operational parameters on the process of sludge ozonation was carried out based on semi-batch experiments. Particular reference has been given to examine the main parameters affecting the solubilisation of organic matter and nitrogenous compounds. Various sets of experiments were undertaken using real sewage sludge to feed a semi-industrial ozonation plant. Applying ozone dosages between 25 and 35 mg O(3)/gTSS, the organic matter solubilisation obtained through ozonation increases proportionally to ozone dosage until a maximum value of 430 mg COD/L. Concerning the nitrogenous compounds, no variation in nitrite concentration and a low increase in nitrate concentration were attained, regardless of the applied ozone dosage. Little increase in ammonia concentration was achieved for low ozone dosages, whilst applying dosages higher than 20 mg O(3)/gTSS, the variation of ammonia increased proportionally with ozone dosage. Experiments using hydraulic retention time (HRT) between 10 and 60 min resulted in a similar COD solubilisation, confirming a rapid rate of cell lysis during ozonation of sludge.

Relationship between solid retention time and phosphorus removal in anaerobic-intermittent aeration process

Solid retention time (SRT) is one of the most important control parameters in biological phosphorus removal. In this study, lab-scale biological nutrient removal (BNR) reactors using anaerobic-intermittent aeration (AIA) were operated at various SRTs (i.e., 15, 20, and 30 d) to evaluate their phosphorus removal efficiencies. Sludge wasting load decreased as SRT increased; however, the phosphorus content in the biomass increased as SRT increased. The highest phosphorus removal efficiency was 93% at an SRT of 20 d and the phosphorus wasting load was also highest at that SRT, which indicates that the optimal SRT for the highest phosphorus removal is not proportional to the phosphorus content in the biomass. Aerobic digestion experiments were also carried out to determine the number of phosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) in the biomass produced in different reactors. All three activated sludges from BNR at SRTs of 15, 20, and 30 d showed a slower volatile suspended solid (VSS) destruction rate and a larger amount of phosphorus released than the conventional activated sludge (CAS), suggesting that the activated sludge from BNR has more PAOs than CAS. Also, the sludge at an SRT of 30 d showed a slower VSS destruction rate and a larger amount of phosphorus released than the sludge at an SRT of 15 d, suggesting that PAOs are more predominant at longer SRTs. Thus, to improve phosphorus removal efficiency, it is recommended that SRT be increased to maximize the number of PAOs in the system and that SRT be determined to maximize phosphorus wasting load.

Releasing characteristics of phosphorus and other substances during thermal treatment of excess sludge

The releasing characteristics of phosphorus, nitrogen compounds, organics, and some metal cations during thermal treatment of excess sludge were investigated. It was found that during heating not only phosphorus, but also nitrogen compounds, organics, and some metal cations could be released in abundance. The maximum orthophosphate (ortho-P) release of about 90 mg/L in concentration was observed at 50 degrees C in 1 h. Except for volatile fatty acids (VFAs), comparatively little total nitrogen (TN), total organic carbon (TOC), and metal cations were released at the same time. Such results might favor further process of phosphorus recovery. VFAs were considerably released only at 50 degrees C. Acetic, butyric, and propionic acid were the most abundant components in turn and their releasing profiles exhibited good linear relationship with time (R2 = 0.9977, 0.9624, and 0.8908, respectively). The concentrations of Mg2+ and K+ increased with time and temperature during thermal treatment, but Ca2+ decreased. The release of Mg2+ and K+ agreed well with TP release (R2 = 0.9892 and 0.9476, respectively). Temperature in the experimental range had very little impact on the linear relationships, especially of Mg2+. Moreover, the parameter of mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) was found to be an important factor for thermal sludge treatment as the released ortho-P and total phosphorus (TP) at 50 degrees C increased more than one-fold when MLSS was increased from 4000 to 8000 mg/L.