Microbial community dynamics in a pilot-scale MFC-AA/O system treating domestic sewage

Abstract

To investigate the effluent concentrations of pollutants, electricity production and microbial community structure, a pilot-scale microbial fuel cell coupled anaerobic-anoxic-oxic system for domestic sewage treatment was constructed, and continuously operated for more than 1 year under natural conditions. The results indicated that the treatment system ran well most of the whole period, but both effluent qualities and electricity production deteriorated at low temperature. The results of MiSeq sequencing showed that the microbial community structures of both anode and cathode biofilms changed extensively during long-term operation and were correlated with changes in effluent qualities. Fifteen genera of electricigens were detected in the anode biofilm, mainly including Clostridium, Paracoccus, Pseudomonas, and Arcobacter. Partial Mantel test results showed that the temperature had significant effects on the microbial community structure. The electricity production was found to have higher relevance to the variation of the anodic community than that of the cathodic community.

Keywords: Anaerobic–anoxic–oxic process; Domestic sewage treatment; Microbial community; Microbial fuel cell; Power generation.