title: Suitability of Sludge Biotic Index (SBI), Sludge Index (SI) and filamentous bacteria analysis for assessing activated sludge process performance: the case of piggery slaughterhouse wastewater.
abstract: Piggery slaughterhouse wastewater poses serious issues in terms of disposal feasibility and environmental impact, due to its huge organic load and variability. It is commonly treated by means of activated sludge processes, whose performance, in case of municipal wastewater, can be monitored by means of specific analyses, such as Sludge Biotic Index (SBI), Sludge Index (SI) and floc and filamentous bacteria observation. Therefore, this paper was aimed at assessing the applicability of these techniques to piggery slaughterhouse sewage. A plant located in Northern Italy was monitored for 1 year. Physical, chemical and operation parameters were measured; the activated sludge community (ciliates, flagellates, amoebae and small metazoa) was analysed for calculating SBI and SI. Floc and filamentous bacteria were examined and described accordingly with internationally adopted criteria. The results showed the full applicability of the studied techniques for optimizing the operation of a piggery slaughterhouse wastewater treatment plant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (DIMI), Universita degli Studi di Brescia, via Branze 38, 25123, Brescia, Italy. roberta.pedrazzani@unibs.it.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pedrazzani
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics (DICATAM), Universita degli Studi di Brescia, via Branze 43, 25123, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Menoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics and Management (DEM), Universita degli Studi di Brescia, via S. Faustino 74/B, 25122, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nembrini
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (DIMI), Universita degli Studi di Brescia, via Branze 38, 25123, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Livia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Manili
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics (DICATAM), Universita degli Studi di Brescia, via Branze 43, 25123, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bertanza
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001681:Biological Assay; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D018533:Biomass; D007558:Italy; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D013552:Swine; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Biological indicators; Microbial ecology; Microfauna; Protozoa; Random forests