The effects of salinity on nitrification using halophilic nitrifiers in a Sequencing Batch Reactor treating hypersaline wastewater.
With annual increases in the generation and use of saline wastewater, the need to avoid environmental problems such as eutrophication is critical. A previous study identified ways to start up a halophilic sludge domesticated from estuarine sediments to remove nitrogen from wastewater with a salinity of 30 g/L. This investigation expands that work to explore the impact of salinity on nitrogen removal. This study demonstrated that the mixed halophilic consortia removed nitrogen from wastewater with a salinity of 30-85 g/L. A kinetic analysis showed that halophilic nitrifiers selected based on hypersalinity were characterized by low Ks, μmax and specific ammonium oxidization rates. This explains the decrease in ammonium removal efficiency in the high salinity operational phases. Salinity inhibited ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) activity, as well as the number of dominant AOB, but did not significantly affect the AOB dominant species. Three most dominant AOB lineages in the halophilic sludge were Nitrosomonas marina, Nitrosomonas europaea, and Nitrosococcus mobilis. Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrosococcus mobilis were mainly affected by salinity, while nitrite accumulation and ammonia loading played the key role in determining the abundance of Nitrosococcus mobilis and Nitrosococcus europaea. The study contributes insights about shifts in halophilic nitrifying bacterial populations.
Beijing University of Technology, College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100124, China.
You-Wei
YW
Cui
Beijing University of Technology, College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100124, China.
Hong-Yu
HY
Zhang
Beijing University of Technology, College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100124, China.|Environmental Management College of China, 8 Road of Jingang, Beidaihe District, Qinhuangdao 066102, China.
Jie-Ran
JR
Ding
Beijing University of Technology, College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100124, China.
Yong-Zhen
YZ
Peng
D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism; D001105:Archaea / Q000502:physiology*; D020562:Betaproteobacteria / Q000502:physiology; D019149:Bioreactors; D063366:Estuaries; D005068:Eutrophication; D058465:Nitrification; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D009606:Nitrosomonas / Q000502:physiology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D054712:Salinity; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology*
D000641:Ammonia; D009584:Nitrogen; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater