Effect of Co-Substrates on Aerobic Phenol Degradation by Acclimatized and Non-acclimatized Enrichment Cultures

Removal of phenol, bisphenol A, and 4-tert-butylphenol from synthetic landfill leachate by vertical flow constructed wetlands

Lab-scale vertical flow constructed wetlands (CWs) were used to remove phenol, bisphenol A (BPA), and 4-tert-butylphenol (4-t-BP) from synthetic young and old leachate. Removal percentages of phenolic compounds from the CWs were in the following order: phenol (88-100%)>4-t-BP (18-100%)≥BPA (9-99%). In all CWs, phenol was removed almost completely from leachate. Results show that BPA and 4-t-BP were removed more efficiently from CWs planted with Phragmites australis than from unplanted CWs, from old leachate containing lower amounts of acetate and propionate as easily degradable carbon sources than from young leachate, and in the dry season mode with long retention time than in the wet season mode with short retention time. Adsorption by initial removal and subsequent biodegradation processes might be major removal processes for these phenolic compounds. The presence of plant is beneficial for enrichment of BPA-degrading and 4-t-BP-degrading bacteria and for the carbon source utilization potential of microbes in CWs.

Biodegradation of industrial-strength 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid wastewaters in the presence of glucose in aerobic and anaerobic sequencing batch reactors

This research explored the biodegradability of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in two laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) that operated under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The potential limit of 2,4-D degradation was investigated at a hydraulic retention time of 48 h, using glucose as a supplemental substrate and increasing feed concentrations of 2,4-D; namely 100 to 700 mg/L (i.e. industrial strength) for the aerobic system and 100 to 300 mg/L for the anaerobic SBR. The results revealed that 100 mg/L of 2,4-D was completely degraded following an acclimation period of 29 d (aerobic SBR) and 70 d (anaerobic SBR). The aerobic system achieved total 2,4-D removal at feed concentrations up to 600 mg/L which appeared to be a practical limit, since a further increase to 700 mg/L impaired glucose degradation while 2,4-D biodegradation was non-existent. In all cases, glucose was consumed before the onset of 2,4-D degradation. In the anaerobic SBR, 2,4-D degradation was limited to 120 mg/L.

TRANSFORMATION AND ALLELOPATHY OF NATURAL DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON AND TANNIC ACID ARE AFFECTED BY SOLAR RADIATION AND BACTERIA(1)

The aim of this study was to test whether abiotic and biotic factors may affect allelopathic properties. Therefore, we investigated how solar radiation and bacteria influence allelopathic effects of the plant-derived, polyphenolic tannic acid (TA) on microalgae. Using a block design, lake water samples with and without TA were exposed to solar radiation or kept in darkness with or without bacteria for 3 weeks. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), specific size fractions of DOC analyzed by chromatography-organic carbon detection (LC-OCD), and concentrations of total phenolic compounds (TPC) were measured to follow the fate of TA in lake water with natural DOC exposed to photolytic and microbial degradation. DOC and TPC decreased in dark-incubated lake water with TA and bacteria indicating microbial degradation. In contrast, exposure to solar radiation of lake water with TA and bacteria did not decrease DOC. Chromatographic analyses documented an accumulation of DOC mean size fraction designated as humic substances (HS) in sunlit water samples with TA. The recalcitrance of the humic fraction indicates that photolytic degradation may contribute to a DOC less available for bacterial degradation. Subsequent growth tests with Desmodesmus armatus (Chodat) E. Hegewald showed low but reproducible difference in algal growth with lower algal growth rate cultured in photolytically and microbially degraded TA in lake water than cultured in respective dark treatments. This finding highlights the importance of photolytic processes and microbial degradation influencing allelopathic effects and may explain the high potential of allelochemicals for structuring the phytoplankton community composition in naturally illuminated surface waters.