Microbiome of strategies for ammonia removal with the sequencing batch moving bed biofilm reactor treating cheese production wastewater

The moving bed biofilm reactor is a compact technology established for treating total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) from municipal wastewater via nitrification and denitrification. The sequencing batch moving bed biofilm reactor (SB-MBBR) has more recently been applied for on-site biological treatment of carbon and phosphorous from cheese production wastewater, however nitrification is limited by the competition between nitrifiers and heterotrophs. This study compares two strategies to circumvent heterotrophic competition and achieve TAN oxidation using the SB-MBBR: extended aerobic operation of a single SB-MBBR and operating two SB-MBBR systems in series. This is the first study to analyze the microbiome of the SB-MBBR achieving TAN removal from cheese production wastewater and present an operational strategy to achieve TAN while treating cheese production wastewater with SB-MBBRs. Also, this is the first study to show evidence that partial nitrification can be achieved in an SB-MBBR system treating cheese production wastewater and demonstrates the potential for the SB-MBBR to be incorporated in a deammonification system.