BACTERIA CLASSIFICATIONS

AND USAGE FOR WASTEWATER

TREATMENT
LECTURE 9
 BACTERIA TYPES: BASED ON TEMPERATURE

1. Psychrophiles : optimum temp. typically 15 OC or lower.

Note: Some organisms are psychro-tolerant -- optimum temperature is 20-40 OC, but can grow as low as 0
OC. These are not considered psychrophiles.

2. Mesophiles: optima from 20-45 OC, minimum around 15-20 OC.

3.Thermophiles: optima 55 OC or higher.

Some (hyper-thermophiles) have optima of 80 OC or higher (mostly Archaea in this group).
Found in hot springs, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, other locations.
Categories of Microbes Based on Temperature
Range
BACTERIA TYPE: BASED ON PH
 ENERGY SYNTHESIS RELATIONSHIP

 Energy-Synthesis Relationships.

 Energy-synthesis relationships directly influence several practical aspects of industrial

wastewater treatment e.g.:
 estimation of sludge quantity and treatment costs,
 the need for nutrients,
 operating costs related to aeration and other process-specific systems
 ENERGY SYNTHESIS RELATIONSHIP

 Treatment Organisms:

 Bacteria are responsible for most of the biological treatment of industrial

wastewater.

 The average elemental composition of bacteria is widely accepted to be C 5 H7 O2

N (Molecular weight ≈ 113g/mole).
 FACTORS AFFECTING BIOLOGICAL
TREATMENT PROCESSES.
 Carbon Source: A carbon source is essential for maintaining cell growth and
metabolism. In most treatment processes, the source of carbons is the organics in the
wastewater. For certain processes (e.g., nitrification), an inorganic carbon source may
be needed.
  Energy Source or Electron Donor : All biological reactions ultimately depend on
an external source of energy (i.e., Carbon in Organic matter or in CO2) to provide the
driving force. It may be the carbon source for CBOD removal (heterotrophic
reactions)or an in organic chemical source (chemoautotrophic or chemo-lithotrophic)
for nitrification. (Electron Donors are in fact Hydrogen donors e.g., CH4, NH3, H2S)
FACTORS AFFECTING BIOLOGICAL
TREATMENT PROCESSES.
 Electron acceptor: All biological reactions need a final electron acceptor to
complete the oxidation-reduction process. Common electron acceptors include
oxygen (in aerobic reactors), nitrate (in anoxic reactors), and carbon dioxide (in
anaerobic reactors).

 If a treatment process does not have enough of the proper electron acceptor,
biological reactions can be severely inhibited (Electron accepters are in fact oxygen
donors e.g., O2, NO2, NO3, CO2 etc)
 FACTORS AFFECTING BIOLOGICAL
TREATMENT PROCESSES.

 Temperature: Most biological reactions occur within a limited temperature range because the
organisms’ enzyme systems are adapted to that range. Higher temperatures speed up chemical
reactions, ~ double rate for every 10 oC rise in temperature.
 Most industrial waste treatment processes operate in the mesophilic range. However, thermophilic
treatment is gaining popularity in a variety of reactor configurations (e.g., anaerobic filters,
sequencing batch reactors, and upflow sludge blanket reactors).
 A thermophilic-mesophilic two-stage SBR system removed 26% to 50% more solids from diary
wastewater than a mesophilic- mesophilic two-stage SBR(Dugba et al., 1997). No fecal coliforms
were observed in the thermophilic-mesophilic system, compared with only a 2-log reduction in the
mesophilic-mesophilic system.
 FACTORS AFFECTING BIOLOGICAL
TREATMENT PROCESSES.

 pH: Most organism can grow in environments in the range of pH 6 to 9. Some microorganisms
(e.g., fungi) can survive at pH 5.5 and a little below.

 Toxic Substances: Toxic substances in the industrial waste stream may reduce the rate of
biological reactions.
 FACTORS AFFECTING BIOLOGICAL
TREATMENT PROCESSES.

 Shock Loading: Sludges (shock loads) of organics, heavy metals, and inorganics can be toxic to
biological treatment organisms. Accidental discharges of toxic substances may also cause severe
problems. Plug-flow systems are particularly susceptible to shock loads.

 Salinity: Biological processes can treat high-salinity industrial wastewaters. Ucisik and Henze
(2004) reported that SBRs denitrified fertilizer industry waste containing 96.7 mg/L of chloride,
although the high salinity decreased the de- nitrification rate.
 SOLIDS RETENTION TIME

 Solids Retention Time: The solids retention time (SRT) is one of the
most important variables in biological treatment design and operations;
it can affect a wide range of parameters e.g.,
 the food-to-microorganism (F:M) ratio,
 the effluent organic/BOD concentration,
 sludge production,
 solids loading on the secondary clarifier, and the effluent solids
concentration].
 SOLIDS RETENTION TIME
If the SRT in an aerobic treatment process is less than 2
days, for example, the process will operate in the
exponential growth phase, the F:M ratio will be high(>1)
the process will produce a lot of sludge, and the clarifier
may lose solids (high solids content).

If the SRT is between 10 to 20 days, the process will operate

in the endogenous decay phase, the F:M ratio will be
low(<1), the process will produce less sludge, and the
sludge will have superior settling qualities. Solids retention
time is also important to achieve treatment goals. If
nitrification is a treatment goal, for example, a longer SRT
is essential.
 Mixing (Reactor Design): Mixing is needed to distribute the electron acceptor, energy
source, nutrients, etc. completely mixed systems can handle toxic shock loads better
than plug-flow systems.
 ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS
 Activated Sludge Process: The activated process is one of the most common
biological processes used in both municipal and industrial waste water treatment.
 Several variations of the activated sludge process may be used for industrial
wastewater treatment, including variations in how the sludge is wasted.
 In a typical activated sludge process, the aeration tank and the secondary clarifier must
be designed as one integral system because changes in aeration tank variables will
affect clarifier operations, and vice versa.
 ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS
Biological wastewater treatment in the form of
activated sludge systems are being used in the
following industries:
coke,
tannery,
protein processing,
pharmaceutical,
organic chemicals
paper industries.
 ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS
 BOD and COD loading and waste water temperature are site-specific.

 The F:M ratio ranges from 0.05 per day for protein-processing waste-
water to 0.57 per day for vegetable oil industry wastewater.

 The solids retention time ranges from 5.2 days for paper mill wastewater
to 20 days for tannery wastewater.

 Other parameters[e.g., MLVSS, hydraulic retention time (HRT), sludge

volume index (SVI), and zone settling velocity]depend on wastewater
characteristics and organic / inorganic quantities.
09/01/2021 18
09/01/2021 19
09/01/2021 20
ACTIVATED SLUDGE FLOC CHARACTERISTICS
Microbiology:
 Activated sludge flocs contain bacteria, organics, and inorganics
(Bitton, 1994).

 Floc size ranges from <1 to 1000 µm or more, and viable bacteria
make up approximately 5 to 20%.

 The surface of the floc is aerobic, but an anoxic zone exists inside
and there is a small anaerobic zone at the center.
 ACTIVATED SLUDGE FLOC CHARACTERISTICS
 The micro-life in activated sludge floc typically includes:
 Bacteria
e.g., Zoolgea, Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium, Alcalligenes, Bacillus, Achro- mobacter,
Corynebacterium, Comomonas, Brevibacterium, and Acinetobacter
 Filmentous organisms e.g., Sphaerotilus, Beggiaton, and Vitreoscilla
 Autotrophic bacteria e.g., nitrifiers[Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter] and phototrophic
bacteria
 Protozoa e.g., ciliates, flagellates, and rhizopoda
 Rotifiers
e.g., Badelloidea, Monogononta, Lecane sp., Notommato sp., Philodina sp., and Habrotrocha
sp.,
The total aerobic bacterial count in activated sludge is approximately 108 colony-forming
units(CFU) per milligram of sludge.
 ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS-SETTLING ISSUES

 Problems in Solid-Liquid Separation.

Caused by:
 the microbiology and structure of activated sludge flocs,
 nutrient-deficient industrial wastes,
 shock loads of organic matter,
 poor oxygen transfer,
 Presence of toxic substances.
 ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS-SETTLING ISSUES

 Problems in Solid-Liquid Separation.

 Proper solids-liquid separation depends on a balance of bio-

formers and filamentous organisms.
 Excessive growth of filamentous organism can result in
filamentous bulking.
 Filamentous microorganisms can be used as diagnostic tool
to indicate process upsets
 ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS- SETTLING ISSUES

 Issues like foaming may result in poor-settling sludge.

 Foaming can be the result of:

 surfactants that have not been biodegraded,
 rising sludge,
 excessive growth of Actinomycetes.
 ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS- SETTLING ISSUES

 Foams may be controlled by:

 chlorinating the return activated sludge (RAS),

 increasing sludge wasting,
 using anoxic biological selectors,
 reducing airflow rate to the aeration tank,
 reducing oil and grease levels,
 adding anaerobic digester supernatant (which is toxic to
Nocardia),
 using physical-chemical methods(e.g., sprays, anti-foam
agents or iron salts).
 SLUDGE VOLUME INDEX
• The sludge volume index (SVI), measured in millimeters per gram
of sludge
• It is a useful indicator of a sludge’s settling properties.
• It is determined by placing a mixed-liquor sample in a 1-to-2 L
cylinder and measuring the volume and corresponding mixed-
liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration after 30 minutes.
• SVI is the volume of 1 gram of sludge after 30 min of settling

SVI= Volume of settled sludge X 1000/MLSS

• SVI between 50 and 150, the sludge will settle reasonably well.
• For SVI > 150 is typically associated with excessive filamentous
growth (Parker et al., 2001).
 SLUDGE BULKING

Sludge Bulking is likely when DO, F:M ratio, and nutrients are low.
Industrial wastes are susceptible to filamentous bulking, if they have:
 high sulfide conc.
 High carbohydrates conc.
 low pH conditions

To promote a well-settling sludge the following process conditions and

variables need to be controlled:
 DO,
 pH,
 nutrients,
 sludge age
 SLUDGE BULKING
 Non-filamentous bulking is the result of nutrients deficiency.
 Under nutrient-deficient conditions, several genera of bacteria can produce
excessive quantities of exo-cellular polymer.
 Dispersed growth could cause poor-quality sludge; the most likely reasons are
the disruption of larger flocs in to tiny fragments. This may be caused by a
low density of filamentous organisms.
 Fungi are typically found when the reactor environment is acidic, toxic, and
nitrogen-deficient.
 They indicate potential reasons for process upsets(e.g., bulking).
 Sludge bulking may also result from an abundance of the micro organism
Geotrichum candidum under low pH conditions because of acid wastes.
SLUDGE BULKING
 BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT
Objectives
•Bio-transformation of org. compounds into simpler compounds
•Mineralization into cellular mass, CO2, H2O & inert inorg. Residuals

2 basic phenomena of BOD

org  aO2  N  P 
Cells
 a, Newcells  CO2  H 2O  Non  biodg .Re duce
Cells  bO2 
b
 CO2  H 2O  N  P  Non  biodg .Re duce
Substrate Bio-degradability
Readily Biodegradable e.g dairy waste
Refaractory or Re-calcitrant compounds e.g. PCBs, dioxins
(Hexa-chloro phenols) & Persistant compounds too-slow to be economical
 Polychlorinated biphenyls were once widely deployed as dielectric and coolant fluids in electrical
apparatus, carbonless copy paper and in heat transfer fluids
 PCBs were banned in the U.S. in 1979 amid suggestions that these chemicals could have
unintended impacts on human and environmental health.
 PCBs have also been used in wide range of products such as plasticizers, surface coatings, inks,
adhesives, flame-retardants, paints, and carbonless duplicating paper.
 Since 1929 around 2 million tonnes of PCBs have been produced, about 10% of which still remain
in the environment today.
PCBs persist in the environment because they are highly unreactive and are largely resistant to
breakdown by acids, bases and heat
 Dioxins are highly toxic environmental persistent organic pollutants.
 Banned since 1970/80 in US
 dioxins break down very slowly and emissions released long ago remain in the environment.
 Some dioxins endure a long time, are extremely resistant to environmental degradation, and
therefore are classified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
 Dioxin contamination is an increasing problem in some developing countries, particularly with
uncontrolled burning, and dismantling and recycling of electronic products, such as
computers.
DIFFICULTY IN
BIODEGRADATION
 Halogenation can occur due to chlorine presence
 Large No. of halogens will lead to more hazardous emissions
 Highly branched structure leads to multiple configurations and multiple physical properties
 Low Solubility in H2O
 Relatively soluble in fat/oil
Physico-chemical factors for non biodegradability

i. Non Availability of an Electron Acceptor

Respiration requires transfer of an electron from waste to electron

acceptor such as O2, NO3, SO4, CO2.

ii. Inadequate moisture

required for cell growth and medium development/maintenance

iii. Temperature
Rate of cell growth α temp (up to optimum Temp)

iv. pH
Enzyme activity is best at pH 6-8 die-off starts at pH<4-5 or pH>9-9.5

v. TDS
TDS should not exceed 40, 000 mg/L
 DESIGNING BIOLOGICAL REACTORS

 
FACTORS AFFECTING BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT PROCESSES.
Treatment Organisms:
Bacteria are responsible for most of the biological treatment of industrial wastewater.
The average elemental composition of bacteria is widely accepted to be C5 H7 O2 N
(Molecular weight ≈ 113g/mole).

09/01/2021 39
 Major Biological Treatment Processes used for Wastewater Treatment (Table 7.2 S R Qasim)
Process Growth Medium Common Name Use
Aerobic Suspended Growth Activated Sludge Process Carbonaceous BOD Removal, nitrification
Processes Aerated Lagoons Carbonaceous BOD Removal, nitrification
Aerobic Digesters Stabilization, Carbonaceous BOD Removal,

Attached Growth Trickling Filters Carbonaceous BOD Removal, nitrification

Rotating Biological Contactors Carbonaceous BOD Removal, nitrification
Packed Bed Filters Carbonaceous BOD Removal, nitrification

Hybrid MBR Carbonaceous BOD Removal, nitrification

Anaerobic Suspended Growth Anaerobic Contact Processes Carbonaceous BOD Removal, stabilization,
Processes Anaerobic digestion Solids destruction, Pathogen kill
Attached Growth Anaerobic packed and fluidized bed Carb. BOD Removal, Waste Stabilization, Denitrification
Sludge blanket Up-flow anaerobic Sludge Blanket Carbonaceous BOD Removal, especially high strength Waste
Hybrid Up-flow Sludge Blanket / attached growth Carbonaceous BOD Removal
Combined aerobic, anoxic and anaerobic processes
Suspended Growth Single or multistage processes Carb. BOD Removal, nitrification, denitrification, P removal
Hybrid Single or multistage processes with Carbonaceous BOD Removal, nitrification, denitrification, P
Packed or attached growth removals
Lagoons Suspended Growth Aerobic lagoons Carbonaceous BOD Removal
Suspended Growth Maturation Lagoons Carbonaceous BOD Removal, nitrification
Suspended Growth Facultative Lagoons Carbonaceous BOD Removal,
Suspended Growth Anaerobic Lagoons Carbonaceous BOD Removal, Waste Stabilization,
09/01/2021 41
 Miscellaneous Wastewater Treatment Systems
System Description
Integrated Fixed Film Activated Fixed-film media are packed in the activated sludge basin to add the advantage of fixed
Sludge System film processes to the ASP

Membrane bio-reactors Membrane type systems and systems that encapsulate micro-organisms (Styrofoam)

Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Anaerobic granules form dense settling flocs and a blanket in the bottom half of the
Blanket reactor. Wastewater is fed from the bottom, and a higher degree of contact is achieved
between the waste organics and micro-organisms. The system can handle high organic
loads and high influent suspended solids. Granulation is often a key factor and requires
seeding from an established system

Thermophilic Aerobic Processes Thermophilic aerobic treatment can produce rapid destruction of organics at a relatively
low biological solids production levels. Examples of such systems include: Advanced
Fluidized Composting which uses either thermophilic aerobic or thermophilic anaerobic
treatment, solids separation and chemical treatment of the residual solids

Thermophilic Anaerobic Thermophilic Anaerobic treatment systems have been used to treat organic wastes from
Processes the food industry
Oxic/Anoxic Processes The Oxic/Anoxic Processes is a recent development for nitrogen removal from industrial
waste streams and uses a 2-step alternate oxic-anoxic treatment sections with separate
biomass
09/01/2021 42
ACTIVATED SLUDGE
PROCESS

AERATED
LAGOONS

TRICKLING
FILTER

ROTATING BIOLOGICAL
CONTACTORS

09/01/2021 43