Mechanism of Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

9912472 Jenkins Enhanced Biological Phosphorous Removal (EBPR) is an activated sludge wastewater treatment process modification in which anaerobic/aerobic cycling of activated sludge produces a higher than normal biomass phosphorous content. This research seeks to (1) characterize the key organisms whose presence is necessary for efficient EBPR operation, (2) determine how these organisms regulate and control the genes and gene products associated with EBPR metabolism and (3) determine the relationship between community structure, metabolic activity and process performance. Specifically, the research will include: survey of prototype plants, correlation of population dynamics with process performance in laboratory scale reactors, cloning of genes for polyphosphate and polyhydroxyalkanoate metabolisms, determination of gene expression patterns in mixed community cultures focusing especially on the shifts between anaerobic and aerobic phases, and correlation of various process upsets with changes in community structure and with changes in intracellular metabolism in a stable community structure. The observations will be integrated to develop recommendations for potential control strategies for full-scale EBPR systems. In addition to the application of EBPR, this research will improve the understanding of the microbial ecology of activated sludge and of the methods that microorganisms use to survive shortages of carbon, phosphorous and oxygen. ***