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Diversity of Activated Sludge Microbial Community Structure in Different Wastewater Treatment Plants

  • MICROBIOLOGY
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Abstract—The microbial diversity and community structure of activated sludge in the biological treatment units of five municipal WWTPs and two industrial WWTPs were studied. The results showed that industrial WWTPs had the lowest diversity and abundance of activated sludge microbial communities, indicating that industrial wastewater inhibited the growth of microbial communities. In the correlation analysis between environmental factors and microbial diversity indices, pH and COD showed a significant negative correlation with the number of OTUs and microbial diversity. The main dominant microbial genus were Hyphomicrobium, Acinetobacter, Novosphingobium, Acinetobacter, and Meiothermus. Both principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and phylogenetic analysis showed large differences in the structure of municipal and industrial microbial community structure, indicating the uniqueness of the activated sludge community structure in industrial WWTPs. Gene function predictions indicated that LJ had higher metabolic function associated with inorganic salt and lipid metabolism. Further co-occurrence network analysis showed that many of the key industrial WWTPs belonged in the same module, suggesting that they had strong interspecific interactions but were relatively independent from other microorganisms in the municipal WWTPs. This study broadens our understanding of microbial community differences between municipal WWTPs and industrial WWTPs.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Project supported by the Science and Technology Research of Henan Province, China (222102320395), the Basic research plan for key scientific research projects of higher education institutions in Henan Province, China (20B610001, 21B610003), Training Program for Young Key Teachers of higher education institutions in Henan Province, China (2020GGJS218), Innovative training program for college students in Henan Province, China (S202111765048).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Municipal Engineering, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, 450045, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China

    Ziyan Yang & Feng Guo

  2. Henan Province Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Rehabilitation Technology, Henan University of Urban Construction, Henan, 467036, Pingdingshan, China

    Qing Wang, Jiaying Zhao, Yilong Wang, Xinfeng Zhu, Yanli Mao, Junfeng Wu, Zhongxian Song, Hongwei Hu & Biao Liu

  3. Department of Ecology and Environment of Henan Province, 450046, Zhengzhou, Henan, China

    Wei Peng

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  1. Ziyan Yang
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Correspondence to Ziyan Yang or Biao Liu.

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The authors have no financial conflicts of interest to declare.

This article adheres to ethical standards. The authors are committed to ethical research guidelines, including compliance with laboratory safety regulations, respect for participants' privacy, and protection of participants' physical and psychological well-being, and the authors will ensure that all study results are truthful and free from any deception.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PROCESS

In briefly, BF, BY and PDS were collected from municipal WWTPs which used the oxidation ditch process. YZA and YZB was collected from municipal WWTPs which used anaerobic-anoxic-oxic process. LJ was collected at the WWTP of a chlor-alkali chemical company, which mainly produces basic chemical raw materials such as caustic soda and PVC resin. The wastewater in LJ was first neutralized by acid-base, followed by hydrolytic acidification and contact oxidation. LLY was collected at the WWTP of a nylon chemical company, whose main products were caprolactam, cyclohexanol, and cyclohexanoic acid The LLY treated effluent was firstly pretreated with amoximation, then passed through the Bio-stability Bed and entered the anaerobic tank, followed by the MSBR (Modified Sequencing Batch Reactor).

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Ziyan Yang, Guo, F., Wang, Q. et al. Diversity of Activated Sludge Microbial Community Structure in Different Wastewater Treatment Plants. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 50, 329–337 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359023700383

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