Distinct microbial communities enriched in water-saturated and unsaturated reactors influence the performance of integrated Hydroponics-Microbial Electrochemical Technology

The goal is to understand the microbial communities involved in the wastewater treatment andelectricity generation performance of the integrated Hydroponics-Microbial ElectrochemicalTechnology (iHydroMET), which is an emerging decentralized domestic wastewatermanagement solution for point sources. After 4 months of system operation with clarifiedsewage, the microbial communities enriched in different zones of the reactors of iHydroMETsystem operated in water-saturated (i.e., water-logged) and unsaturated (i.e., free-drained)conditions were assessed. Samples were taken from five places of both conditions, which areanodic (Graphite + granular activated carbon) zone, bottom cocopeat, top cocopeat, cathodicgraphite, and influent sewage.