title: Bench-scale study of the effect of phosphate on an aerobic iron oxidation plant for mine water treatment.
abstract: At the opencast pit Nochten acidic iron- and sulfate-rich mine waters are treated biotechnologically in a mine-water treatment plant by microbial iron oxidation. Due to the low phosphate concentration in such waters the treatment plant was simulated in bench-scale to investigate the influence of addition of potassium dihydrogen phosphate on chemical and biological parameters of the mine-water treatment. As a result of the phosphate addition the number of cells increased, which resulted in an increase of the iron oxidation rate in the reactor with phosphate addition by a factor of 1.7 compared to a reference approach without phosphate addition. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis during the cultivation revealed a shift of the microbial community depending on the phosphate addition. While almost exclusively iron-oxidizing bacteria related to "Ferrovum" sp. were detected with phosphate addition, the microbial community was more diverse without phosphate addition. In the latter case, iron-oxidizing bacteria ("Ferrovum" sp., Acidithiobacillus spp.) as well as non-iron-oxidizing bacteria (Acidiphilium sp.) were identified.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Ecological Center, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Leipziger Str. 29, 09599 Freiberg, Germany. Electronic address: judithkipry@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Judith S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Tischler
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wiacek
authors.forename: Eberhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Janneck
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schlömann
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D008906:Mining; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010710:Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D010710:Phosphates; D004247:DNA; D007501:Iron
keywords: Acid mine water; Bioremediation; Microbial iron oxidation; Phosphate limitation; “Ferrovum”