Efficacy of a high pressure jet device for excess sludge reduction in a conventional activated sludge process: Pilot-scale demonstration

High pressure jet device (HPJD) is promising for wasted activated sludge reduction from an aeration tank in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Nevertheless, feasibility of an HPJD, installed in a recycle line of a conventional activated sludge (CAS) process, remains a challenge. We herewith operated two pilot-scale CAS processes with or without (control) an HPJD to demonstrate the efficacies of an HPJD on excess sludge reduction and wastewater treatment for 108 days. The microbial community structure of the both pilot scale reactors was investigated using V4 region of 16S rRNA gene.