Activated sludge from the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago was adapted in the laboratory to either benzoate or 2-chlorobenzoate as the sole carbon source in sequencing batch reactors with a 48-h feed-aerate-settle-draw cycle and a mean cell residence time (MCRT) of 10 days. Benzoate degradation increased by more than 80-fold after 7 MCRTs compared to unadapted activated sludge. A greater than 15-fold increase in 2-chlorobenzoate metabolism occurred after adaptation for about 5-7 MCRTs. For each substrate the maximum rate measured for adapted cultures was near or above the highest previously reported in the literature. For both adapted and unadapted sludges, benzoate metabolism was considerably faster than that of 2-chlorobenzoate, and for both substrates the rate of metabolism increased incrementally with time of adaptation. As expected, addition of the benzoate-adapted sludge to unadapted sludge enhanced the latter's ability to degrade benzoate.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) conducted a Use Attainability Analysis (UAA) of the Chicago Area Waterways (CAWs) from 2002 to 2007. Following the completion of their UAA study, the IEPA submitted to the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) two new aquatic life use designations and three new recreational use designations, along with water quality standards to protect those uses. MWRDGC has serious concerns regarding the proposed uses of the CAWs which are man-made and modified waterways in which flow is dominated by treated municipal effluents. From the onset of the UAA study, the MWRDGC has remained committed to providing technical and scientific support to the IEPA to determine appropriate uses for the CAWs. There are still major studies ongoing that will not be completed for another 18 to 20 months that will provide a necessary scientific and technical basis for appropriate aquatic life use and recreational use designations.
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