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Secondary effluent from paper mill was characterized by poor biodegradability and containing recalcitrant compounds. In this study, four bioreactors, including a sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR), a stirred-tank reactor (STR) and two submerged aeration reactors (SAR) were used to treat secondary effluent from a recycled paper mill respectively. The results indicated that chemical oxygen demand (COD) was increased by SAR2 treatment and COD removal efficiency for SBBR, SAR1 and STR was 39.7%, 15.7% and 30.9% respectively. It is suggested that recalcitrant compounds were removed by SBBR, SAR1 and STR respectively. Total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) of wastewater were increased by treatments of each bioreactor, which suggested that endogenous respiration of biomass occurred during the treatment. Microbial analysis of sludge from different bioreactors suggested that the removal of recalcitrant compounds in SBBR and STR might be related to the presence of unique microorganisms in each reactor., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A pilot-scale horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSFCW) was operated to purify industrial runoff containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Guangzhou, China. Synthetic industrial runoff was fed into the HSSFCW with continuous flow at an average loading rate of 0.128 m(3)/(m(2)/day) for about 2 years. Pollutants such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), total phosphorus (TP), and phenanthrene were mainly removed in the front quarter of the HSSFCW, and in the vertical direction, the average removal rates of COD, TP, total nitrogen (TN), ammonia, and phenanthrene of the upper layer were 64.23, 71.16, 50.81, 65.38, and 92.47 %, which were 1.23, 2.08, 1.48, 1.72, and 1.17 times higher than those of the bottom, respectively. Correlations among pollutant removal, soil environmental indexes, enzyme activities, and soil microbial community structure were evaluated. Enzyme assays (dehydrogenase, catalase, nitrate reductase, and polyphenol oxidase) showed significant associations between enzyme activities and pollutant removal (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05). Soil microbial community structure was assessed with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting method, and results demonstrated that bacterial communities remained relatively stable in different seasons. Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were found to be the dominant phyla of the bacteria communities, and three clones which might be related to the biodegradation of phenanthrene were also detected. Results of the present work would broaden the knowledge of the purification mechanism of contaminants in the constructed wetlands (CWs), and identification of the treatment performances and temporal and spatial variations of biological activities of subsurface flow constructed wetlands (SSFCWs) would help to improve the operations of CWs for surface water protection.

A novel two-stage biological/flocculation process was developed for treating the pulping effluent from the alkaline peroxide mechanical pulping (APMP) process. In the first biological stage, the aerobic fermentation by using Aspergillus niger can decrease the chemical oxygen demand (COD) by about 60% while producing about 7 g/l of solid biomass. In the second stage (post-coagulation/flocculation), the residual COD, turbidity and color, can be further decreased by using alum and polyacrylamide (PAM). The overall removal efficiencies of COD, color and turbidity from the APMP pulping effluent by the above two-stage biological-coagulation/flocculation process were 93%, 92% and 99%, respectively, under the conditions studied., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)