Enrichment of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria for Efficient Nitrification of Wastewater

Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were enriched by repeating fed-batch cultivations in an AOB-selective medium of activated sludges from a domestic wastewater treatment plant. Enriched culture showed strong capabilities of ammonia oxidation [0.810 mg $NH_4^+$-N/mg mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS)$\cdot$day] as well as $NO_x^-$-N production (0.617 mg $NO_x^-$-N/ mg MLSS$\cdot$day). Degree of enrichment was examined through fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses using an AOB-specific Cy3-labeled oligonucleotide probe (NSOl90) and terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analyses. FISH analyses confirmed that the fraction of AOB among 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)-stained cells increased from about less than $0.001\%$ to approximately $42\%$ after enrichment of AOB, and T-RFLP analyses showed that bacterial community became simpler as enrichment was continued. When the enriched culture of AOB was added (150 mg/l as dry suspended solid) to the normal activated sludge (3,000 mg/l as dry suspended solid), nitrification efficiencies were improved from 0.020 mg $NO_x^-$-N/mg MLSS$\cdot$day to 0.041 mg $NO_x^-$-N/mg MLSS$\cdot$day in a synthetic wastewater and also from 0.0007 mg $NO_x^-$-N/mg MLSS$\cdot$day to 0.0918 mg $NO_x^-$-N/mg MLSS$\cdot$day in a real domestic wastewater. Therefore, it is expected that this enrichment method could be used for improving efficiency of nitrification in wastewater treatment plants.