• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2024

Biological nutrient removal is gaining increasing attention in wastewater treatment plants; however, it is adversely affected by low temperatures. This study examined temperature effects on nutrient removal and morphological stability of the granular and denitrifying phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAO and DPAO, respectively) using sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) at 5, 10, and 20 ℃. Lab-scale SBRs were continuously operated using anaerobic-anoxic and anaerobic-oxic cycles to develop the PAO and DPAO granules for 230 d. Sludge granulation in the two SBRs was observed after approximately 200 d. The average removal efficiency of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) and PO₄^3--P remained >90% throughout, even when the temperature dropped to 5 ℃. The average removal efficiency of NO₃^--N remained >80% consistently in DPAO SBR. However, nitrification drastically decreased at 10 ℃. Hence, the removal efficiency of NH₄⁺-N was decreased from 99.1% to 54.5% in PAO SBR. Owing to the increased oxygen penetration depth at low temperatures, the influence on nitrification rates was limited. The granule in DPAO and PAO SBR was observed to be unstable and disintegrated at 10 ℃. In conclusion, morphological characteristics showed that changed conversion rates at low temperatures in aerobic granular sludge altered both nutrient removal efficiencies and granule formation.