Improvement of nitrification efficiency by bioaugmentation in sequencing batch reactors at low temperature

Bioaugmentation is an effective method of treating municipal wastewater with high ammonia concentration in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) at low temperature (10°C). The cold-adapted ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria were enriched and inoculated, respectively, in the bioaugmentation systems. In synthetic wastewater treatment systems, the average NH4+ -N removal efficiency in the bioaugmented system (85%) was much higher than that in the unbioaugmented system. The effluent NH4+-N concentration of the bioaugmented system was stably below 8 mg·L−1 after 20 d operation. In municipal wastewater systems with bioaugmentation, the effluent NH4+-N concentration was below 8 mg·L−1 after 15 d operation. The average NH4+-N removal efficiency in unbioaugmentation system (about 82%) was lower compared with that in the bioaugmentation system. By inoculating the cold-adapted nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) into the SBRs after 10 d operation, the nitrite concentration decreased rapidly, reducing the NO2−-N accumulation effectively at low temperature. The functional microorganisms were identified by PCR-DGGE, including uncultured Dechloromonas sp., uncultured Nitrospira sp., Clostridium sp. and uncultured Thauera sp. The results suggested that the cold-adapted microbial agent of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and NOB could accelerate the start-up and promote achieving the stable operation of the low-temperature SBRs for nitrification.