• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.323-338
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• 1993

The primary objective of this study was to examine the toxic effects of PCP on activated sludge and to analyze its metabolic responses while treating wastewater containing pentachlorophenol (PCP) in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system operating under different control strategies. This study was conducted in two phases 1 and 2 (8-hr and 12-hr cycles). Each phase was operated with two control strategies I and II. Strategy I (reactor 1) involved rapid addition (5 minutes to complete) of substrate to the reactor with continuous mixing but no aeration for 2 hours. Strategy II (reactor 2) involved adding the feed continuously during the first 2 hours of the cycle when the system was mixed but not aerated. During both phases each reactor was operated at a sludge age of 15 days. The synthetic wastewater was used as a feed. The COD of the feed solution was about 380 mg/L. After the reference response for both reactors was established, the steady state response of each system was established for PCP feed concentrations of 0.1 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L, and 5.0 mg/L in SBR systems operating on both 8-hr and 12-hr cycles. Soluble COD removal was not inhibited at any feed PCP concentrations used. At 5.0 mg/L feed PCP concentration and in SBR systems operating on phase 2, the concentrations or ML VSS were decreased; selective pressure on the mixed biomass might be increased, narrowing the range of possible ecological responses; the settleability of activated sludge was poor; the SOURs were increased, showing that the systems were shocked. Nitrification was made to some extent at all concentrations of feed PCP in SBR systems operating on phase 2 whereas in SBR systems operating on phase 1 little nitrification was observed. Then, nitrification will be delayed as much as soluble COD removal is retarded due to PCP inhibition effects. Enhanced biological phosphorus removal occurring in the system operating with control strategy I during phase 1 of this work and in the presence of low concentrations of PCP was unreliable and might cease at anytime, whereas enhanced biological phosphorus removal occurring in the system operating with either control strategy I or II during phase 2 of this work and in the presence of feed PCP concentrations up to 1.0 mg/L was reliable. When, however, such processes were exposed to 5.0 mg/L PCP dose, enhanced phosphorus removal ceased and never returned.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.1290-1297
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• 2008

To investigate the diversities of Accumulibacter phosphatis and its polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase gene (phaC) in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) sludge, an acetate-fed sequencing batch reactor was operated. Analysis of microbial communities using fluorescence in situ hybridization and 16S rRNA gene clone libraries showed that the population of Accumulibacter phosphatis in the EBPR sludge comprised more than 50% of total bacteria, and was clearly divided into two subgroups with about 97.5% sequence identity of the 16S rRNA genes. PAO phaC primers targeting the phaC genes of Accumulibacter phosphatis were designed and applied to retrieve fragments of putative phaC homologs of Accumulibacter phosphatis from EBPR sludge. PAO phaC primers targeting $G_{1PAO},\;G_{2PAO},\;and\;G_{3PAO}$ groups produced PCR amplicons successfully; the resulting sequences of the phaC gene homologs were diverse, and were distantly related to metagenomic phaC sequences of Accumulibacter phosphatis with 75-98% DNA sequence identities. Degenerate NPAO (non-PAO) phaC primers targeting phaC genes of non-Accumulibacter phosphatis bacteria were also designed and applied to the EBPR sludge. Twenty-four phaC homologs retrieved from NPAO phaC primers were different from the phaC gene homologs derived from Accumulibacter phosphatis, which suggests that the PAO phaC primers were specific for the amplification of phaC gene homologs of Accumulibacter phosphatis, and the putative phaC gene homologs by PAO phaC primers were derived from Accumulibacter phosphatis in the EBPR sludge. Among 24 phaC homologs, a phaC homolog (GINPAO-2), which was dominant in the NPAO phaC clone library, showed the strongest signal in slot hybridization and shared approximately 60% nucleotide identity with the $G_{4PAO}$ group of Accumulibacter phosphatis, which suggests that GINPAO-2 might be derived from Accumulibacter phosphatis. In conclusion, analyses of the 16S rRNA and phaC genes showed that Accumulibacter phosphatis might be phylogenetically and metabolically diverse.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.40-46
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• 2006

This study was initiated to evaluate the inhibitory effect of selected heavy metals on the growth of Acinetobacter sp. Down as one of the phosphorus accumulating microorganisms (PAO) involved in the enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) process of the wastewater treatment plant. Acinetobacter sp. was initially selected as a starting model microorganism and was grown under aerobic condition for this experiment. The heavy metals selected and investigated in this study were cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn). Median $(IC_{50})$ and threshold $(IC_{10})$ inhibitory concentrations for Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, and Zn were 2.95 and 1.45, 4.92 and 2.53, 0.03 and 0.02, 1.12 and 0.43, 14.84 and 5.46 mg $L^{-1}$, respectively. We demonstrated that most of heavy metals tested in the experiment inhibited the growth of Acinetobacter sp. in the range of predetermined concentrations. Based on the data obtained from the experiment, Hg was the most sensitive to Acinetobacter sp., then Ni, Cd, Cu, and Zn in order.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.279-286
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• 2007

A submerged biofilm sequencing batch reactor (SBSBR) process, which liquor was internally circulated through sandfilter, was designed, and performances in swine wastewater treatment was evaluated under a condition of no external carbon source addition. Denitrification of NOx-N with loading rate in vertical and slope type of sandfilter was 19% and 3.8%, respectively, showing approximately 5 times difference, and so vertical type sandfilter was chosen for the combination with SBSBR. When the process was operated under 15 days HRT, 105L/hr.m3 of internal circulation rate and 54g/m3.d of NH4-N loading rate, treatment efficiencies of STOC, NH4-N and TN (as NH4-N plus NOx-N) was 75%, 97% and 85%, respectively. By conducting internal circulation through sandfilter, removal performances of TN were enhanced by 14%, and the elevation of nitrogen removal was mainly attributed to occurrence of denitrification in sandfilter. Also, approximately 57% of phosphorus was removed with the conduction of internal circulation through sandfilter, meanwhile phosphorus concentration in final effluent rather increased when the internal circulation was not performed. Therefore, It was quite sure that the continuous internal circulation of liquor through sandfilter could contribute to enhancement of biological nutrient removal. Under 60g/m3.d of NH4-N loading rate, the NH4-N level in final effluent was relatively low and constant(below 20mg/L) and over 80% of nitrogen removal was maintained in spite of loading rate increase up to 100g/m3.d. However, the treatment efficiency of nitrogen was deteriorated with further increase of loading rate. Based on this result, an optimum loading rate of nitrogen for the process would be 100g/m3.d.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.145-158
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• 2023

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are effective technologies for urban wastewater management, utilizing natural physico-chemical and biological processes to remove pollutants. This study employed a bibliometric analysis approach to investigate the progress and future research trends in the field of CWs. A comprehensive review of 100 most-recently published and open-access articles was performed to analyze the performance of CWs in treating wastewater. Spain, China, Italy, and the United States were among the most productive countries in terms of the number of published papers. The most frequently used keywords in publications include water quality (n=19), phytoremediation (n=13), stormwater (n=11), and phosphorus (n=11), suggesting that the efficiency of CWs in improving water quality and removal of nutrients were widely investigated. Among the different types of CWs reviewed, hybrid CWs exhibited the highest removal efficiencies for BOD (88.67%) and TSS (95.67%), whereas VSSF, and HSSF systems also showed high TSS removal efficiencies (83.25%, and 78.83% respectively). VSSF wetland displayed the highest COD removal efficiency (71.82%). Generally, physical processes (e.g., sedimentation, filtration, adsorption) and biological mechanisms (i.e., biodegradation) contributed to the high removal efficiency of TSS, BOD, and COD in CW systems. The hybrid CW system demonstrated highest TN removal efficiency (60.78%) by integrating multiple treatment processes, including aerobic and anaerobic conditions, various vegetation types, and different media configurations, which enhanced microbial activity and allowed for comprehensive nitrogen compound removal. The FWS system showed the highest TP removal efficiency (54.50%) due to combined process of settling sediment-bound phosphorus and plant uptake. Phragmites, Cyperus, Iris, and Typha were commonly used in CWs due to their superior phytoremediation capabilities. The study emphasized the potential of CWs as sustainable alternatives for wastewater management, particularly in urban areas.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1355-1362
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• 2010

This study was carried out in order to observe how the bay sediment would be changed with microbial treatments and a chemical oxidant like $CaO_2$. The sediment during the treatments was analyzed in terms of pH, ORP, volatile organics content, COD, AVS, T-N, and T-P. With $CaO_2$ treatment, pH was kept over 9.66 and ORP ranged from +4.70~+46.0, which meant an aerobic state meanwhile with the microbial treatment those were worse. In addition the chemical treatment showed better environmental index values than the microbial one: volatile organics content and COD values in the former were 12.9% and 37.9% while those in the latter were 4.5% and 18.7%, respectively. AVS and T-P were 71.1% and 100% versus 56.5% and 85.8%, respectively. However, the microbial treatment was better for T-N(66% higher). On the other hand, both treatment at a time enhanced all the environmental indices but COD meantime pH and ORP values were lower than with the chemical treatment only. Thus additional input of an oxygen generator like $CaO_2$ could improve the environmental state of a bay sediment where the biological treatment is going on.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 2006

Comparative analysis of microbial communities in a sequencing batch reactor which performed enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) was carried out using a cultivation-based technique and 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. A standard PCR protocol and a modified PCR protocol with low PCR cycle was applied to the two clone libraries of the 16S rRNA gene sequences obtained from EBPR sludge, respectively, and the resulting 424 clones were analyzed using restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) on 16S rRNA gene inserts. Comparison of two clone libraries showed that the modified PCR protocol decreased the incidence of distinct fragment patterns from about 63 % (137 of 217) in the standard PCR method to about 34 % (70 of 207) under the modified protocol, suggesting that just a low level of PCR cycling (5 cycles after 15 cycles) can significantly reduce the formation of chimeric DNA in the final PCR products. Phylogenetic analysis of 81 groups with distinct RFLP patterns that were obtained using the modified PCR method revealed that the clones were affiliated with at least 11 phyla or classes of the domain Bacteria. However, the analyses of 327 colonies, which were grouped into just 41 distinct types by RFLP analysis, showed that they could be classified into five major bacterial lineages: ${\alpha},\;{\beta},\;{\gamma}-$ Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and the phylum Bacteroidetes, which indicated that the microbial community yielded from the cultivation-based method was still much simpler than that yielded from the PCR-based molecular method. In this study, the discrepancy observed between the communities obtained from PCR-based and cultivation-based methods seems to result from low culturabilities of bacteria or PCR bias even though modified culture and PCR methods were used. Therefore, continuous development of PCR protocol and cultivation techniques is needed to reduce this discrepancy.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2007

A submerged biofilm sequencing batch reactor (SBSBR) process, which liquor was internally circulated through sandfilter, was designed, and performances in swine wastewater treatment was evaluated under a condition of no external carbon source addition. Denitrification of NOx-N with loading rate in vertical and slope type of sandfilter was 19% and 3.8%, respectively, showing approximately 5 times difference, and so vertical type sandfilter was chosen for the combination with SBSBR. When the process was operated under 15 days HRT, 105L/hr.m3 of internal circulation rate and 54g/m3.d of NH4-N loading rate, treatment efficiencies of STOC, NH4-N and TN (as NH4-N plus NOx-N) was 75%, 97% and 85%, respectively. By conducting internal circulation through sandfilter, removal performances of TN were enhanced by 14%, and the elevation of nitrogen removal was mainly attributed to occurrence of denitrification in sandfilter. Also, approximately 57% of phosphorus was removed with the conduction of internal circulation through sandfilter, meanwhile phosphorus concentration in final effluent rather increased when the internal circulation was not performed. Therefore, It was quite sure that the continuous internal circulation of liquor through sandfilter could contribute to enhancement of biological nutrient removal. Under 60g/m3.d of NH4-N loading rate, the NH4-N level in final effluent was relatively low and constant(below 20mg/L) and over 80% of nitrogen removal was maintained in spite of loading rate increase up to 100g/m3.d. However, the treatment efficiency of nitrogen was deteriorated with further increase of loading rate. Based on this result, an optimum loading rate of nitrogen for the process would be 100g/m3.d.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.113-121
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• 2007

The bacterial diversity inherent to the biofilm community structure of a modified rotating biological contactor wastewater treatment process, referred to as the Rotating Activated Bacillus Contactor (RABC) process, was characterized in this study, via both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. On the basis of culture-dependent methods, Bacillus sp. were found to exist in large numbers on the biofilm (6.5% of the heterotrophic bacteria) and the microbial composition of the biofilms was quite simple. Only three phyla were identified-namely, the Proteobacteria, the Actinobacteria (High G+C Gram-positive bacteria), and the Firmicutes (Low G+C Gram-positive bacteria). The culture-independent partial 16S rDNA sequence analysis revealed a considerably more diverse microbial composition within the biofilms. A total of eight phyla were recovered in this case, three of which were major groups: the Firmicutes (43.9%), the Proteobacteria (28.6%), and the Bacteroidetes (17.6%). The remaining five phyla were minor groups: the Planctomycetes (4.4%), the Chlorobi (2.2%), the Actinobacteria (1.1%), the Nitrospirae (1.1%), and the Verrucomicrobia (1.1%). The two most abundant genera detected were the endospore-forming bacteria (31.8%), Clostridium and Bacillus, both of which are members of the Firmicutes phylum. This finding indicates that these endospore-forming bacteria successfully colonized and dominated the RABC process biofilms. Many of the colonies or clones recovered from the biofilms evidenced significantly high homology in the 16S rDNA sequences of bacteria stored in databases associated with advanced wastewater treatment capabilities, including nitrification and denitrification, phosphorus accumulation, the removal of volatile odors, and the removal of chlorohydrocarbons or heavy metals. The microbial community structures observed in the biofilms were found to correlate nicely with the enhanced performance of advanced wastewater treatment protocols.