PHA based denitrification: Municipal wastewater vs. acetate

Denitrification of municipal wastewater based on bacterial storage polymers–Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) – was investigated in biofilm sequencing batch reactors, as a part of a two sludge system for wastewater treatment and in comparison to acetate based synthetic wastewater. The results show that PHA based denitrification (PBD) of real wastewater can be a viable alternative, especially for wastewater with low COD/N ratio, without the need for external carbon source addition. High nitrate removal capacity of about 40–50 mg N/L with a low COD/N requirement of about 4–5, were observed. It was found that entrapped particulate organic matter contributed additional reducing power, on top of the storage materials, thus allowing for the high nitrate reduction capacity. Daily removal rates were similar to those of extensive treatment systems (0.24–0.31 gr N/L reactor*d). Large differences in storage yield and composition between biomass grown on synthetic and municipal wastewater were observed.