Methanol‐driven enhanced biological phosphorus removal with a syntrophic consortium

The presence of suitable carbon sources for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) plays a key role in phosphorus removal from wastewater in urban WWTP. For wastewaters with low volatile fatty acids (VFAs) content, an external carbon addition is necessary. As methanol is the most commonly external carbon source used for denitrification it could be a priori a promising alternative, but previous attempts to use it for EBPR have failed. This study is the first successful report of methanol utilization as external carbon source for EBPR. Since a direct replacement strategy (i.e., supply of methanol as a sole carbon source to a propionic‐fed PAO‐enriched sludge) failed, a novel process was designed and implemented successfully: development of a consortium with anaerobic biomass and polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs). Methanol‐degrading acetogens were (i) selected against other anaerobic methanol degraders from an anaerobic sludge; (ii) subjected to conventional EBPR conditions (anaerobic + aerobic); and (iii) bioaugmented with PAOs. EBPR with methanol as a sole carbon source was sustained in a mid‐term basis with this procedure. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2013; 110: 391–400. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[1]  Yinguang Chen,et al.  Enhanced biological phosphorus removal driven by short-chain fatty acids produced from waste activated sludge alkaline fermentation. , 2007, Environmental science & technology.

[2]  Zhiguo Yuan,et al.  Obtaining highly enriched cultures of Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphates through alternating carbon sources. , 2006, Water research.

[3]  A. Guisasola,et al.  Failure of an enriched nitrite-DPAO population to use nitrate as an electron acceptor , 2009 .

[4]  W. E. Hill,et al.  Induction of phosphorus removal in an enhanced biological phosphorus removal bacterial population , 1997 .

[5]  A. Guisasola,et al.  Experimental assessment and modelling of the proton production linked to phosphorus release and uptake in EBPR systems. , 2009, Water research.

[6]  R. Sparling,et al.  Enhancing biological phosphorus removal with glycerol. , 2010, Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research.

[7]  G. Zavarzin,et al.  Methanogenesis at low temperatures by microflora of tundra wetland soil , 2004, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek.

[8]  James G. Ferry,et al.  Methanogenesis : Ecology, Physiology, Biochemistry and Genetics , 1994 .

[9]  Alfons J. M. Stams,et al.  Acidophilic degradation of methanol by a methanogenic enrichment culture. , 1993 .

[10]  G. Lettinga,et al.  Substrate competition between methanogens and acetogens during the degradation of methanol in UASB reactors , 1995 .

[11]  A. Nozhevnikova,et al.  Competition between homoacetogenic bacteria and methanogenic archaea for hydrogen at low temperature , 2001 .

[12]  M. Pijuan,et al.  Polyhydroxyalkanoate synthesis using different carbon sources by two enhanced biological phosphorus removal microbial communities , 2009 .

[13]  Richard E. Speece,et al.  Anaerobic Biotechnology for Industrial Wastewaters , 1996 .

[14]  Zhiguo Yuan,et al.  Endogenous metabolism of Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis under various starvation conditions. , 2007, Water research.

[15]  K. Schleifer,et al.  The domain-specific probe EUB338 is insufficient for the detection of all Bacteria: development and evaluation of a more comprehensive probe set. , 1999, Systematic and applied microbiology.

[16]  K. Jarrell,et al.  Nutritional requirements of the methanogenic archaebacteria , 1988 .

[17]  M. Pons,et al.  Endogenous processes during long-term starvation in activated sludge performing enhanced biological phosphorus removal. , 2006, Water research.

[18]  A. Meisen,et al.  Methanol-induced biological nutrient removal kinetics in a full-scale sequencing batch reactor. , 2002, Water research.

[19]  G. Lettinga,et al.  Anaerobe Tolerance to Oxygen and the Potentials of Anaerobic and Aerobic Cocultures for Wastewater Treatment , 1997 .

[20]  Interspecies hydrogen transfer in co-cultures of methanol-utilizing acidogens and sulfate-reducing or methanogenic bacteria , 1986 .

[21]  Damir Brdjanovic,et al.  The dynamic effects of potassium limitation on biological phosphorus removal , 1996 .

[22]  Javier Guerrero,et al.  Glycerol as a sole carbon source for enhanced biological phosphorus removal. , 2012, Water research.

[23]  K. Schleifer,et al.  Phylogenetic identification and in situ detection of individual microbial cells without cultivation. , 1995, Microbiological reviews.

[24]  J. Carrera,et al.  Automated thresholding method (ATM) for biomass fraction determination using FISH and confocal microscopy , 2009 .

[25]  Mogens Henze,et al.  Controlled Carbon Source Addition to an Alternating Nitrification-Denitrification Wastewater Treatment Process Including Biological P Removal , 1995 .

[26]  G. Lettinga,et al.  Effect of cobalt on the anaerobic degradation of methanol , 1993 .

[27]  T. Phelps,et al.  Thermodynamics of H2-consuming and H2-producing metabolic reactions in diverse methanogenic environments under in situ conditions , 1986 .

[28]  J. Zeikus,et al.  Single-carbon catabolism in acetogens: analysis of carbon flow in Acetobacterium woodii and Butyribacterium methylotrophicum by fermentation and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance measurement , 1983, Journal of bacteriology.

[29]  Harold L. Drake,et al.  Tolerance and Metabolic Response of Acetogenic Bacteria toward Oxygen , 2002, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[30]  Aaron Marc Saunders,et al.  Enhanced biological phosphorus removal in a sequencing batch reactor using propionate as the sole carbon source , 2004, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[31]  M. V. van Loosdrecht,et al.  Selection between alcohols and volatile fatty acids as external carbon sources for EBPR. , 2008, Water research.

[32]  R. Zeng,et al.  Model-based analysis of anaerobic acetate uptake by a mixed culture of polyphosphate-accumulating and glycogen-accumulating organisms. , 2003, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[33]  Zhiguo Yuan,et al.  Advances in enhanced biological phosphorus removal: from micro to macro scale. , 2007, Water research.

[34]  W. Gujer,et al.  Enhanced denitrification with methanol at WWTP Zürich-Werdhölzli , 1996 .

[35]  J. M. Park,et al.  ENHANCED BIOLOGICAL PHOSPHORUS REMOVAL IN A SEQUENCING BATCH REACTOR SUPPLIED WITH GLUCOSE AS A SOLE CARBON SOURCE , 2000 .

[36]  G. P. Kalle,et al.  Inhibition of methanogenesis and its reversal during biogas formation from cattle manure , 1984, Journal of Biosciences.

[37]  A. Stams,et al.  Pathways of methanol conversion in a thermophilic anaerobic (55 °C) sludge consortium , 2003, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[38]  C. M. Hooijmans,et al.  Modeling the PAO-GAO competition: effects of carbon source, pH and temperature. , 2009, Water research.

[39]  G. Lettinga,et al.  Effects of Nickel and Cobalt on Kinetics of Methanol Conversion by Methanogenic Sludge as Assessed by On-Line CH4 Monitoring , 1999, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[40]  R. Lemaire,et al.  Effectiveness of an alternating aerobic, anoxic/anaerobic strategy for maintaining biomass activity of BNR sludge during long-term starvation. , 2007, Water research.

[41]  E. Cho,et al.  Effect of sequentially combining methanol and acetic acid on the performance of biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal. , 2004, Journal of environmental management.