Salt Acclimation Behavior of the Nitrifier Consortium for the Nitrification of Saline Wastewater

The effect of salinity on the nitrification efficiency of the nitrifier consortium was evaluated for the nitrification of saline wastewater. The nitrifier consortium, which was the activated sludge acclimated with ammonium as the only energy source, was used as the nitrifier for the salt acclimation. Airlift reactors for the nitrification of ammonia with increasing concentration in saline synthetic wastewater (35 g/I NaCD, and synthetic wastewater without salt as a control, were continuously operated with the nitrifier consortium for 43 days. The ammonia removal rate was about 23g ammonia-N/$m^3$/day in both the absence and presence of the salt. An accumulation of nitrite was observed in the saline nitrification reactor at an early period. However, the nitrite decreased to less than 1 mg/l after 39 days of operation. The salinity increased the acclimation time of the nitrifier consortium to obtain a stable marine nitrification system. However, the salt acclimated system showed the efficient removal of ammonia which was same as that without salt.