Aerobic Denitrification of Nitrate Wastewater and Dynamic Analysis of the Microbial Community in a Bio-Ceramic Reactor

Biological treatment of nitrate wastewater with aerobic denitrifiers in a bio-ceramic reactor was investigated. And denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) method was used to analyze the stability of microbial community structure. With the influent hydraulic loading 0.75m/h, gas/water ratio 5 ~ 10:1, temperature 15 ~ 23degC ,COD loading rate 1.92 ~ 5.98 kgldrm^-3 ldr d^-1 and NO₃ ^--N loading rate 0.60~1.34 kgldrm^-3 ldr d^-1, high nitrate nitrogen removal was almost achieved 100% and the maximum total nitrogen removal was reached up to 95.73% during stable operation. In addition, the nitrite concentration of effluent was lower. The PCR-DGGE profiles showed that shift of microbial diversity correspond to the effect of nitrate removal and the preponderant populations for aerobic denitrification were steady during the test.