Dynamics of the microfauna community in a full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plant experiencing sludge bulking |
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Authors: | Bo Hu Rong Qi Wei An Muqi Xu Yu Zhang Xue Bai Haipeng Bao Yang Wen Jian Gu Min Yang |
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Institution: | 1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China;2. Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;3. Beijing Drainage Group Co., Ltd., Beijing 100044, China |
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Abstract: | We investigated the dynamics of the microfauna community in activated sludge, with special reference to sludge bulking, in two parallel municipal wastewater treatment systems in Beijing, China over a period of 14 months. Annual cyclic changes in microfauna community structures occurred in both systems. RELATE analysis based on Spearman's Rank correlation indicated that microfauna community structures were highly correlated with the sludge volume index (SVI) (p < 0.001), which indicates sludge settleability. Nutrient conditions of raw sewage (p < 0.01) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) (p < 0.05) were also related to microfauna community structures. Abundances of the species Epistylis plicatilis and Vorticella striata increased significantly with an increase in SVI (p < 0.001) and decrease in water temperature (p < 0.001), suggesting that sludge bulking may have created favorable conditions for the two species, even under unfavorable temperature conditions. Sludge de-flocculation primarily due to the excessive growth of Microthrix parvicella-like filaments could be an important driving force for the microfauna community changes. The release of flocculated non-filamentous bacteria may represent a suitable food source for these species. The two species may be considered as potential bioindicators for sludge bulking. |
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Keywords: | Activated sludge Bioindicators Micro-metazoans Municipal wastewater Protozoan microfauna Sludge bulking |
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