title: Anammox growth on pretreated municipal wastewater.
abstract: Autotrophic nitrogen removal from municipal wastewater enables development of energy autarkic wastewater treatment plants. In this study we report the evaluation of the anammox process in a granular sludge fluidized bed lab-scale reactor continuously fed with the actual effluent of the A-stage of the WWTP of Dokhaven, Rotterdam. The reactor was anoxic, and nitrite was dosed continuously to support anammox activity only. The system was operated for more than ten months at temperatures between 20 and 10 °C. COD was also consumed during the process, but heterotrophs could not outcompete anammox bacteria. Volumetric N-removal rates obtained were comparable or higher than those of conventional N-removal systems, with values higher than 0.4 g-N L(-1) d(-1) when operated at 10 °C. The biomass specific N-removal rate at 10 °C was on average 50±7 mg-N g-VSS(-1) d(-1) during the last month of operations, almost two times higher than previously reported activities at this temperature. FISH analysis revealed that the dominant anammox species was Candidatus Brocadia Fulgida throughout the experimentation. Evidence for growth of anammox bacteria at mainstream conditions was demonstrated for the entire temperature range tested (10-20 °C), and new granules were shown to be actively formed and efficiently retained in the system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology , Julianalaan 67, Delft 2628 BC, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lotti
authors.forename: Robbert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kleerebezem
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van Erp Taalman Kip
authors.forename: Tim L G
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Hendrickx
authors.forename: Jans
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kruit
authors.forename: Maaike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoekstra
authors.forename: Mark C M
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: van Loosdrecht
mesh_terms: D064751:Ammonium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development*; D061249:Batch Cell Culture Techniques; D018533:Biomass; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D002947:Cities; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D064307:Microbiota; D009566:Nitrates / Q000378:metabolism; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology*; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D064751:Ammonium Compounds; D009566:Nitrates; D009584:Nitrogen; D062065:Wastewater