Bioaugmentation with Nitrifying Granules in Low-SRT Flocculent Activated Sludge at Low Temperature.

Nitrifying granules were grown in a sidestream reactor fed municipal anaerobic digestion centrate and added in an initial slug dose and subsequent smaller daily doses to a non-nitrifying mainstream activated sludge system at 12 °C and 2.5-day aerobic solids retention time (SRT) to increase its nitrification capacity. Effluent NH3-N concentrations less than 1 mg/L were achieved with bioaugmentation, and nitrification was immediately lost when granules were removed after 30 days of bioaugmentation. Molecular microbial analyses indicated that nitrifying organisms remained attached to granules in the mainstream system with little loss to the flocculent sludge. Maximum specific nitrification activity of the bioaugmented granules decreased in mainstream treatment but the nitrification capacity remained due to new granule growth in the mainstream. This study demonstrated that bioaugmentation with sidestream nitrifying granules can intensify nitrification capacity in low-SRT, low-temperature flocculent activated sludge systems to achieve low effluent NH3-N concentrations and nitrogen removal.