Conditions for supplemental biogenic substrates to enhance activated sludge degradation of xenobiotic

Abstract

The effects of biogenic presence on the degradation of xenobiotic organics by natural microbial populations have been reported as either advantageous or disadvantageous. The inconsistency of the reports implies there could be a turning point from disadvantageous to advantageous outcomes so that conditions may exist that could bring an optimum advantage. This study tested the supplementations of varying concentrations of sucrose and peptone, separately and combined, to acclimated activated sludge degradation of xenobiotic 2,4-D, while other operational and microbiological conditions were held constant. Our test results showed that biogenic may indeed enhance or slow down xenobiotic degradation rates. The highest enhancements exist at concentrations of 50 and 80 mg/L, respectively, for sucrose and peptone when supplemented separately, and 20 mg/L sucrose and 40 mg/L peptone combined. Conditions for advantageous biogenic supplementation were identified for activated sludge degradation of a xenobiotic; specifically, the highest degradation rate enhancements occurred when biogenic supplementation was approximately 0.5 to 0.7 the concentration of 2,4-D base on chemical oxygen demand (COD), which brought a biomass yield of approximately double that yielded by 2,4-D. Kinetics analyses provided clues for the possible causes of advantageous and disadvantageous effects due to biogenic supplementation.