Ammonia oxidizing bacterial community composition and process performance in wastewater treatment plants under low temperature conditions

Abstract

Nitrification can be difficult to maintain at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) during cold periods resulting in disrupted nitrogen removal. The aim of this study was to relate nitrification process performance to abundance and composition of the ammonia oxidizer communities in two closely located municipal WWTPs in Sweden during an eight month period covering seasonal changes and low temperature conditions. Both facilities showed lower NH(4)(+)-N removal efficiency and nitrification rates as temperature decreased. However, one of the plants had a more stable nitrification rate and higher ammonia removal efficiency throughout the entire period. The differences in performance was related to a shift in the composition of the bacterial ammonia oxidizing community from a Nitrosomonas oligotropha-dominated community to a mixed community including also Nitrosomonas ureae-like ammonia oxidizers. This was likely a response to differences in NH(4)(+)-N and organic loading.

Chemical and Microbiological Quality of Effluents from Different On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems across Finland and Sweden

“…A Greek sand filter with after-trapping for P [9], produced effluent which contained less N than the average N-value in our sand filter effluents, but the BOD and P values were lower in sand filter effluents of the present work. The higher temperature of the Mediterranean climate compared to the Finnish temperature may explain the difference in nitrogen reductions, since nitrification may be limited by low temperatures [32]. Another consideration is that sand filters had lower carbon footprints than commercial treatment systems [13].…”

Removal of Nitrate in Simulated Water at Low Temperature by a Novel Psychrotrophic and Aerobic Bacterium, Pseudomonas taiwanensis Strain J

“…TB [ 19 ], while the reported denitrifying bacteria including these mentioned above are almost mesophilic bacteria and the optimum denitrification temperatures are between 20 and 35°C. However, these mesophilic denitrifying bacteria might face great challenges in winter months because the low temperatures generally drastically inhibit their denitrification ability, cell growth, and proliferation especially when the temperature was at 10°C or less [ 20 , 21 ]. Thus, it is important to explore the bacteria which could effectively remove nitrate nitrogen at low temperatures.…”

Feasibility of a microalgal wastewater treatment for the removal of nutrients under non‐sterile conditions and carbon limitation

“…In contrast, it one week was required for NH 4 + to be reduced to half of its initial concentration in the control cultures containing only the microbiome (Figure ). In the control treatments, the decrease in NH 4 + might be explained by the activity of nitrifying bacteria (ammonia‐oxidizing bacteria) converting NH 4 + to NO 2 − , which would be expected to accumulate as its subsequent conversion to NO 3 − by nitrite‐oxidizing bacteria would be inhibited in the presence of oxygen . However, analysis of the effluents showed very little nitrite accumulation in the controls or algal cultures (Figure ), suggesting that nitrification was likely negligible.…”