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Study of 16 Portuguese activated sludge systems based on filamentous bacteria populations and their relationships with environmental parameters

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

A survey in 16 activated sludge wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) was conducted to contribute to the knowledge of the environmental parameters that determine the composition of the filamentous community. A total of 128 samples of mixed liquor from municipal WWTP were collected during 2 years, and 22 filamentous morphotypes were identified. The most frequent and abundant filamentous bacteria were, in both cases and by this order, type 0041/0675, type 0092, Microthrix parvicella and 1851, nocardioforms and Haliscomenobacter hydrossis. Concerning dominance, type 1851 was the most frequently dominant morphotype, followed by M. parvicella and types 0092 and 0041/0675. These were also, and by this order, the dominant morphotypes during bulking occurrences. Significant correlations were obtained between the abundance of filamentous bacteria and environmental parameters, but multivariate statistical analysis only confirmed the correlation between type 0092 and Sludge Volume Index (SVI), emphasizing the association of this filament with bulking. The discussion of the results in light of published works was complicated by the random use of terms such as frequency, abundance, and dominance with different and often unclear meanings. This reinforces the need of clarifying these terms when discussing the causes of filamentous overgrowth in WWTP.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the European Community fund FEDER, through Program COMPETE, in the ambit of the Projects FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-007025 (PTDC/AMB/68393/2006), PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013, RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462), and the Project “BioEnv - Biotechnology and Bioengineering for a sustainable world,” REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000048, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER. The authors also thank the PhD grant SFRH/BD/64848/2009 attributed to Liliana Santos.

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  1. CEB–Centro de Engenharia Biológica, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-57, Braga, Portugal

    Liliana Araújo dos Santos, Vânia Ferreira, Marta Martins Neto, Maria Alcina Pereira, Manuel Mota & Ana Nicolau

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  1. Liliana Araújo dos Santos
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  2. Vânia Ferreira
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  3. Marta Martins Neto
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  4. Maria Alcina Pereira
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  5. Manuel Mota
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  6. Ana Nicolau
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Correspondence to Ana Nicolau.

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Araújo dos Santos, L., Ferreira, V., Neto, M.M. et al. Study of 16 Portuguese activated sludge systems based on filamentous bacteria populations and their relationships with environmental parameters. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 5307–5316 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6393-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6393-8

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