Enhancement of mariculture wastewater treatment using moving bed biofilm reactors filled with modified biocarriers: Characterisation, process performance and microbial community evaluation

Abubakar Shitu; Gang Liu; Yadong Zhang; Zhangying Ye; Jian Zhao; Songming Zhu; Dezhao Liu

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112724

Enhancement of mariculture wastewater treatment using moving bed biofilm reactors filled with modified biocarriers: Characterisation, process performance and microbial community evaluation

J Environ Manage. 2021 Aug 1:291:112724. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112724. Epub 2021 May 4.

Authors

Abubakar Shitu¹, Gang Liu², Yadong Zhang², Zhangying Ye², Jian Zhao², Songming Zhu³, Dezhao Liu²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Agricultural Bio-Environmental Engineering, College of Bio-systems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; Key Laboratory of Equipment and Informatization in Environment Controlled Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Hangzhou, 310058, China; Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria.
² Institute of Agricultural Bio-Environmental Engineering, College of Bio-systems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; Key Laboratory of Equipment and Informatization in Environment Controlled Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
³ Institute of Agricultural Bio-Environmental Engineering, College of Bio-systems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; Key Laboratory of Equipment and Informatization in Environment Controlled Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address: zhusm@zju.edu.cn.

PMID: 33962286
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112724

Abstract

This research investigated two proposed modified biofilm carriers' performances in treating recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) wastewater under different salinities (12‰, 26‰, and 35‰) for about 92 days. Three moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs; R1, R2, and R3) were filled with unmodified novel sponge biocarriers (SB) served as a control, modified novel SB with ferrous oxalate (C₂FeO₄@SB), and modified novel SB with combined ferrous oxalate and activated carbon (C₂FeO₄-AC@SB), respectively. Under the highest saline condition, a significantly higher ammonia removal efficiency of 98.86 ± 0.7% (p ˃ 0.05) was obtained in R3, whereas R2 and R1 yielded 95.18 ± 2.8% and 91.66 ± 1.5%, respectively. Microbial analysis showed that Vibrio, Ruegeria, Formosa, Thalassospira, and Denitromonas were predominant genera, strictly halophilic heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria involved in nitrogen removal. In conclusion, the synergistic effects of novel sponge, C₂FeO₄ and AC accelerated biofilm formations and stability, subsequently enhanced the removal of ammonia from the mariculture RAS wastewater by the C₂FeO₄-AC@SB carriers in R3.

Keywords: Activated carbon; Ferrous oxalate; MBBR; Microbial community; Nitrification; Nutrients removal.

MeSH terms

Biofilms
Bioreactors
Microbiota*
Nitrification
Taiwan
Wastewater / analysis
Water Purification*

Substances

Waste Water