Carbon source shaped microbial ecology, metabolism and performance in biofilm system for simultaneous phosphorus recovery and nitrogen removal

The use of biofilm-based phosphorus enrichment in actual sewage treatment has been hampered by the lack of understanding regarding the performance, microbial ecology, and metabolism of PAOs, particularly those fed complicated carbon sources. This study used synthetic sewage wastewater that contained volatile fatty acids (VFAs), glucose, and amino acids to examine various carbon sources' consequences on the phosphorus enrichment performance and microbial community characteristics in an anaerobic/aerobic alternatively operating biofilm reactor. The findings demonstrated that by varying the anaerobic hydraulic retention duration, aerobic pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration, the complicated carbon source had a 72.5% utilization efficiency. When the concentration of the phosphorus enrichment solution exceeded 50 mg/L, total nitrogen and total phosphorus had removal efficiencies of 76.5% and 99.8%, respectively.