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Differences in biomass composition between systems using biological phosphorous removal (BNR) vs typical activated sludge

2/10/2021

 
Aster Bio has been testing an increasing number of BNR plants with excellent phosphorous removal efficiencies. Our testing - Environmental Genomics™ MCA - is a total microbial census of MLSS with relative % of each genera. Using this molecular sequencing technology, you can see key differences among microbial populations based on system design and operation. 

Data from MCA Test
We use high-throughput sequencing of the 16s region to conduct the microbial census. The sequencing produces over 100 MB of data per run, so making it useful also means summarizing the data in a convenient table. Below are two different runs from a healthy BNR system with biological phosphorus removal and a conventional activated sludge system. The table presentation gives % of total reads for common functional groups - of course there is a lot of data behind this summary that is also interesting.
Picture
Key Differences
The Non-BNR systems of course have fewer PAO/GAO populations. The "Bulking" column is composed of Zooglea/Thauera genera. These genera are common bacteria that can form good floc, denitrify, and degrade a wide range of organic compounds. Under certain influent conditions, the bulking group can produce excess EPS that causes non-filamentous bulking.

BNR system testing reveals that the PAO/GAO cultures are inversely related to the Bulking genera. I have also noted that the BNR systems also tend to have more known filamentous bacteria genera present. 

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    Author

    Erik Rumbaugh has been involved in biological waste treatment for over 20 years. He has worked with industrial and municipal wastewater  facilities to ensure optimal performance of their treatment systems. He is a founder of Aster Bio (www.asterbio.com) specializing in biological waste treatment.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

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