Systematic analysis of biomass characteristics associated membrane fouling during start-up of a hybrid membrane bioreactor using worm reactor for sludge reduction

This study focused on the effect of predated sludge recycle on microbial community development in MBR coupled with Static Sequencing Batch Worm Reactor (SSBWR-MBR). The microbial activities and community were evaluated. The results indicated that the SSBWR-MBR fed with the predated sludge obtained excellent wastewater treatment performance and membrane permeability. In addition, the LIVE/DEAD staining analyses clearly showed that the viability of sludge in SSBWR-MBR was slightly lower than that in Control-MBR, indicating that SSBWR-MBR had a good ability to digest predated sludge. Changed EPS and SMP characteristics and low EPS production, as the major contributors for the mitigated membrane fouling, were closely associated with microbial community development. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis revealed that the bacterial communities in the two reactors were different. Further identification of the bacterial populations suggested that decrease of Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria and change in Alphaproteobacteria might be responsible for membrane fouling mitigation.