Wastewater from poultry-processing plants can be challenging
to
treat, partially because of the antimicrobial processing aides such
as peracetic acid (PAA) and cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) which suppress
nitrifying bacteria. The objective of this research was to test the
effects of adding microalgae, PAA, and CPC on nitrification in poultry-processing
wastewater. Batch experiments were designed to test two different
green algae along with PAA or CPC in a set of full-factorial experiments.
The presence of C. sorokiniana increased nitrate
production up to 2.7-fold compared to cultures without algae, but
this effect was only statistically significant in one of the experiments.
The measurement of nitrate was confounded by the fact that this alga
consumes both nitrite and nitrate. Carrying out the experiment with A. protothecoides (which does not consume nitrite or nitrate)
resulted in 4–9-fold higher peak nitrate concentrations compared
to cultures without algae (p < 0.005). These improvements
were more than enough to overcome the negative suppressive effects
of PAA and CPC. The results suggest that incorporation of algae into
engineered treatment systems for poultry-processing wastewater could
improve the function of nitrifying bacteria, enabling potential water
reuse in hydroponic plant irrigation.
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