Evaluating a correlation between volatile suspended solid and adenosine 5′-triphosphate levels in anaerobic treatment of high organic suspended solids wastewater

Methods were developed to correlate volatile suspended solids (VSS) with adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) concentrations in the treatment of cheese-processing wastewater. Two different physiological conditions where the maximum rates of acetate and butyrate production occurred, which were pH 7•01 at 36•2°C (condition A) and pH 7•26 at 36•2°C (condition B), respectively, were tested in batch mode. The ratios of ATP to volatile suspended solid (VSS) concentration were constant at exponential growth and decay phases for conditions A and B, which were 4•03 mg ATP/g VSS and 3•20 mg ATP/g VSS, respectively.