Explore the vast range of titles available.

Copper and stainless steel electrodes were used in batch electrochemical coagulation (BECC) for the treatment of real textile wastewater using 16 electrode combinations. Out of 16 Cu-SS and SS-Cu combinations (eight combinations each), only 4SS and 3SS-1Cu electrodes operated at cell voltage of 18 V and current density of 180 A/m2 gave maximum color and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removals. The COD removal was observed to be 89.37% for 4SS and 72.34% for 3SS 1Cu electrodes from CODo 3,012 mg/L. Color removal was 97% and 98% from its initial value of 1,000 Pt-Co unit for 4SS and 3SS-1Cu combinations. Water quality parameters like total dissolved solids, chloride, nitrate, phosphate, and sulphate reduced from their initial values while using all 4SS and 3SS-1Cu electrode arrangements. Other control factors exercised for optimal operations were ECC floc settling pattern and sludge volume index (SVI). SVI values were found to be <100 mL/g for both electrode combinations.

The dominant filamentous bacteria associated with bulking incidents in Japanese activated sludge plants with nutrient removal were identified and their quantitative correlations with sludge settleability were assessed, with the aim of controlling bulking incidents by specifically suppressing bacterial growth. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses using existing oligonucleotide FISH probes indicated that the presence of Eikelboom type 1851 filamentous bacteria belonging to the phylum Chloroflexi is correlated with biomass settleability in the municipal wastewater treatment plants examined. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays developed in this study also showed a linear correlation between type 1851 filament members and sludge settleability, with the exception of some winter samples. The real-time qPCR assays and 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing to reveal the microbial community of activated sludge showed that the abundance of type 1851 at 200 mL g −1 of sludge volume index was estimated to be about 1.9% of the total microbial cells. The abundance of type 1851 served as a bulking indicator in plants where type 1851 was dominant.

About one third of the industrial activated sludge (AS) plants worldwide suffer from bad settling sludge, often caused by filamentous bulking phenomena. The present study investigated the effectiveness of a sludge granulation/densification strategy, based only on a metabolic selection mechanism, to eliminate sludge bulking in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treating real industrial wastewater. The wastewater originated from a tank truck cleaning company transporting chocolate and beer. The proposed strategy involved the introduction of a slow unaerated/anaerobic feeding step in the SBR operation. On lab-scale, the new feeding strategy resulted in (1) excellent settling with a sludge volume index (SVI) decreasing from more than 300 mL·g−1 to 100 mL·g−1 and lower, (2) the elimination of sludge bulking genera and (3) the significant enrichment of glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAO), mainly Defluviicoccus and Candidatus Competibacter, and this in less than 80 days. The feeding strategy was then applied to the full-scale installation, yielding similar results: a stable average SVI of 37 mL·g−1 was reached after approximately 150 days. Full granulation was however not reached, which warrants further optimization. The present study shows that the proposed strategy can easily be applied in existing SBR systems to solve the problem of sludge bulking.

The genus “ Candidatus Kouleothrix” (Eikelboom type 1851) is the major filamentous bacterium responsible for activated sludge bulking in Japanese activated sludge plants, where it is present in many in unusually high abundances. Global surveys have shown this genus embraces several species, although the contribution each of these makes to bulking is not known. This study followed their population dynamics in a full-scale bulking sludge plant in Japan over a 12-month period, which required the development of species-specific FISH probes, used to measure their relative abundances. Six of the 9 recognised species of “ Ca . Kouleothrix” were detected there, two of which (midas_s_3423 and midas_s_35412) were at consistently high abundances and responsible for increases in the sludge volume index (SVI). Their abundances were also statistically correlated with their filament lengths, which showed higher correlations with SVI increases than did species abundances. This study examined the impacts of both operational parameters and other communities on the abundances of these two species over the 12-month period and showed marked interspecies differences in responses to both. Together these findings stress the importance in studies of this kind to identify populations to species level to reveal possible important ecological differences not seen at the genus level.

The present study investigates the potential of locust bean gum (LBG), in accelerating the startup of a novel upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor handling municipal sewage. Under identical conditions, two lab-scale UASB reactors were operated in parallel, to substantiate this idea. The novel reactor (RH) with an inner centric hybrid UASB module and an outer concentric downflow hanging sponge (DHS) unit started off with an LBG polymer as an additive. Its performance was compared with a conventional system (RC). RH outclassed with an accelerated startup in 40 days, with the highest COD removal of 89% by the UASB compartment and 95% by the entire system (UASB + DHS). RC took nearly 85 days to achieve the highest COD removal of 83%. The polymer also succeeded with a dense sludge bed fastening most of the anaerobes, read by the least sludge volume index (SVI) of 26 mL/g. Specific methanogenic activity (SMA) (RH – 0.715 ± 0.05 and RC – 0.670 ± 0.07 g CH4-COD/g VSS/ day) and extracellular polymer (ECP) concentration (0.30–0.32 g/g VSS) of biomass in both reactors were almost similar. This further confirmed that early granulation was induced solely by the polymer and it also had no deleterious impact on substrate transfer.

Conventional activated sludge (CAS) and densified sludge obtained using hydro-cyclone selective wasting were compared at a full-scale water resources recovery facility. The densified tested sludge, containing around 30–50% of aerobic granules, showed enhanced settleability with low and stable sludge volume index (SVI) compared to CAS, which suffered recurrent filamentous bulking. Further in-depth batch settling tests were carried out using a 40 cm diameter column fitted with ultrasonic transducers to monitor both sludge blanket height and vertical velocity profiles. Hindered settling and compression parameters were calibrated from the experiment for latter modelling use. Test sludge displayed more than doubled settling velocities compared to CAS, with hindered settling velocities remaining >3 m·h−1 even at high solids concentrations of 6.85 g·L−1. The compression regime was attained at much higher critical concentration for the test sludge. It also displayed enhanced thickening properties, with concentrations obtained after 30 min of settling being 20.9 and 8.5 g·L−1 respectively for test and control sludge. This allows for a substantial reduction of recirculation rates in practice. These results open perspectives in optimizing existing plant operation as well as clarifier design and modelling using densified sludge.

Excessive proliferation of filamentous bacteria within activated sludge leads to sludge structural instability and diminished settling properties, which is a prevalent issue in tannery wastewater treatment. Based on available information, there is a lack of research on the impact of particle addition on filamentous bacteria in activated sludge, specifically with respect to a reduction in sludge bulking. Therefore, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was selected as the test material to elucidate the effect of particles on sludge bulking. The results illustrate that particles measuring 0.1 mm in diameter have a profound influence on both the quantity and morphological characteristics of filamentous bacteria in activated sludge. In an anaerobic-aoxic-oxic (AAO) reactor, the use of 4000 particles/L led to a significant decrease in the sludge volume index (SVI), reducing it from 358 mg/L to 198 mg/L. The results offer significant insights for resolving sludge bulking problems in tannery wastewaters. Moreover, the results are significant as a reference point for future investigations on the efficacy of incorporating diverse particulate materials to ameliorate issues associated with activated sludge bulking.

This study reveals that the abundance of the filament Kouleothrix (Eikelboom type 1851) correlated positively with poor settleability of activated sludge biomass in a Japanese full-scale nutrient removal wastewater treatment plant sampled over a one-year period. 16S rRNA amplicon sequence data confirmed that Kouleothrix was the dominant filament in the plant, with a relative abundance of 3.06% positively correlated with sludge volume index (SVI) ( R  = 0.691). Moreover, Kouleothrix (type 1851) appeared to form interfloc bridges, typical of bulking sludge, regardless of season. Together with earlier studies that indicated the responsibility of Kouleothrix (type 1851) on bulking events, these data suggest that their high relative abundances alone may be responsible for sludge bulking. 16S rRNA qPCR data for this filament showed changes in its relative abundance correlated with changes in several operational parameters, including mixed liquor temperature, sludge retention time, and suspended solids concentration, and it may be that manipulating these may help control Kouleothrix bulking.

Activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants was seeded into a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) in which synthetic wastewater was used as the influent. The sludge was bulked by decreasing the concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO). By adding a 30 min step of anaerobic stirring after the water inflow, the sludge bulking was rapidly inhibited after 10 running cycles, and the sludge volume index (SVI) decreased from 222 to 74 mL·g −1 . The results of high-throughput sequencing showed that the relative abundance of bacteria Thiothrix , bacteria norank_o _ Sphingobacteriales and fungi Trichosporon was increased by 6.3, 4.3 and 81.2%, after initial SBR stages, but these bacteria were inhibited by the addition of an anaerobic step, as their relative abundances decreased by 0.7, 0.8 and 14.7%, respectively. The proliferation of Thiothrix , norank_o_Sphingobacteriales and Trichosporon was the primary reason for the observed sludge bulking in the reactor. After the anaerobic step was added, the sludge extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) concentration was increased from 84.4 to 104.0 mg·(gMLSS) −1 (grams of mixed liquor suspended solids). Thus, the addition of an anaerobic step can inhibit the growth of filamentous bacteria, increasing the sludge EPS concentration and promoting the precipitation of activated sludge.

Fate of biofilm sloughing was assessed in a laboratory-scale (LS) integrated fixed-film sequencing batch reactor (IF-SBR) treating synthetic wastewater and in a full-scale (FS) integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) system treating municipal wastewater. It was observed that the properties of biofilms and flocs, including sludge volume index (SVI), mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS), effluent suspended solids (ESS), relative hydrophobicity, and composition of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) were associated with biofilm sloughing and formation of large granular flocs in the LS IF–SBR. In the FS IFAS system, the changes were studied at the molecular level. For example, the extracted EPS content results (the protein to polysaccharide ratio decreased in the flocs and increased in the biofilms, with biofilm sloughing) were complemented with the confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) coupled with molecular specific staining. CLSM analyses revealed that micro-colonies rich in polysaccharides readily sloughed from the carriers. Live-dead staining revealed areas of the biofilm where the viability of biomass was a contributing factor associated with areas of the biofilm susceptible to sloughing. 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina) of FS IFAS samples revealed greater diversity (α-diversity) in biofilms compared to flocs. Biofilm sloughing resulted in a decrease in diversity in biofilms and a corresponding increase in the flocs during sloughing. Microbial population dynamics revealed that bacteria known for denitrification (for example, Comamonadaceae ) detached from the biofilms during sloughing, readily associated with the suspended biomass, and were retained in the bioreactors.