Effective curves of completing simultaneous ammonium and manganese removal in polluted water using a biological aerated filter

Downflow sponge biofilm reactors for polluted raw water treatment: Performance optimisation, kinetics, and microbial community

Water outages caused by elevated ammonium (NH4+-N) levels are a prevalent problem faced by conventional raw water treatment plants in developing countries. A treatment solution requires a short hydraulic retention time (HRT) to overcome nitrification rate limitation in oligotrophic conditions. In this study, the performance of polluted raw water treatment using a green downflow sponge biofilm (DSB) technology was evaluated. We operated two DSB reactors, DSB-1 and DSB-2 under different NH4+-N concentration ranges (DSB-1: 3.2-5.0 mg L-1; DSB-2: 1.7-2.6 mg L-1) over 360 days and monitored their performance under short HRT (60 min, 30 min, 20 min, and 15 min). The experimental results revealed vertical segregation of organic removal in the upper reactor depths and nitrification in the lower depths. Under the shortest HRT of 15 min, both DSB reactors achieved stable NH4+-N and chemical oxygen demand removal (≥95%) and produced minimal effluent nitrite (NO2--N). DSB system could facilitate complete NH4+-N oxidation to nitrate (NO3--N) without external aeration energy requirement. The 16S rRNA sequencing data revealed that nitrifying bacteria Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira in the reactor were stratified. Putative comammox bacteria with high ammonia affinity was successfully enriched in DSB-2 operating at a lower NH4+-N loading rate, which is advantageous in oligotrophic treatment. This study suggests that a high hydraulic rate DSB system with efficient ammonia removal could incorporate ammonia treatment capability into polluted raw water treatment process and ensure safe water supply in many developing countries.

Enhancing the Mn-Removal Efficiency of Acid-Mine Bacterial Consortium: Performance Optimization and Mechanism Study

In this study, an acclimated manganese-oxidizing bacteria (MnOB) consortium, QBS-1, was enriched in an acid mine area; then, it was used to eliminate Mn(Ⅱ) in different types of wastewater. QBS-1 presented excellent Mn removal performance between pH 4.0 and 8.0, and the best Mn-removal efficiency was up to 99.86% after response surface methodology optimization. Unlike other MnOB consortia, the core bacteria of QBS-1 were Stenotrophomonas and Achromobacter, which might play vital roles in Mn removal. Besides that, adsorption, co-precipitation and electrostatic binding by biological manganese oxides could further promote Mn elimination. Finally, the performance of the Mn biofilter demonstrated that QBS-1 was an excellent inoculant, which indicates good potential for removing Mn contamination steadily and efficiently.

Removal of Mn(II) by a nitrifying bacterium Acinetobacter sp. AL-6: efficiency and mechanisms

A nitrifying bacterium Acinetobacter sp. AL-6 showed a high efficiency of 99.05% for Mn(II) removal within 144 h when the Mn(II) concentration was 200 mg L^-1; meanwhile, 64.23% of NH₄⁺-N was removed. With the Mn(II) concentration increased from 25 to 300 mg L^-1, bacterial growth and Mn(II) removal were stimulated. However, due to the electron acceptor competition between Mn(II) oxidation and nitrification reactions, the increase in NH₄⁺-N concentration would inhibit Mn(II) removal. By measuring Mn metabolic form and locating oxidative active factors, it was proved that extracellular oxidation effect played a dominant role in the removal process of Mn(II). The self-regulation of pH during strain metabolism further promoted the occurrence of biological Mn oxidation. Characterization results showed that the Mn oxidation products were tightly attached to the surface of the bacteria in the form of flakes. The product crystal composition (mainly MnO₂ and Mn₂O₃), Mn-O functional group, and element level fluctuations confirmed the biological oxidation information. The changes of -OH, N-H, and -CH₂ groups and the appearance of new functional groups (such as C-H and C-O) provided more possibilities for Mn ion adsorption and bonding.

Groundwater pollution containing ammonium, iron and manganese in a riverbank filtration system: Effects of dynamic geochemical conditions and microbial responses

Bench-scale experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of hydraulic loadings and influent concentration on the migration and biotransformation behavior of three groundwater pollutants: ammonium (NH₄ ⁺), iron (Fe²⁺) and manganese (Mn²⁺). Columns packed with aquifer media collected from a river bank filtration (RBF) site in Harbin City, NE China were introduced synthetic groundwater (SGW) or real groundwater (RGW) were at two different constant flow rates and initial contaminant concentrations to determine the impact of system conditions on the fate of the target pollutants biotransformation. The results showed that the biotransformation rate of Fe²⁺ Mn²⁺, and NH₄ ⁺ decreased by 8%, 39% and 15% under high flow rate (50 L d^-1) compared to low flow rate (25 L d^-1), which was consistent with the residence-time effect. While the biotransformation rate of Fe²⁺ Mn²⁺, and NH₄ ⁺ decreased by 7%, 14% and 9% under high influent concentration compared to original groundwater. The 16S rRNA analysis of the aquifer media at different depths after experiments completion demonstrated that the relative abundance of major functional microbes iron oxidizing bacteria (IOB) and manganese oxidizing bacteria (MnOB) under higher flow rate and higher influent concentration decreased 13%, 14% and 25%, 24%, respectively, whereas the ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) exhibited minimal change, compared to the lower flow rate. Above all results indicated that both high flow rate and high concentration inhibit the biotransformation of NH₄ ⁺, Fe²⁺ and Mn²⁺. The biotransformation of Fe²⁺ and Mn²⁺ occurs primarily in the 0-40 cm and 20-60 cm depth intervals, respectively, whereas the NH₄ ⁺ biotransformation appears to occur relatively uniformly throughout the whole 110cm column. The biotransformation kinetics of NH₄ ⁺ in RGW and SGW, Mn²⁺ in RGW at different depths accords with the first order kinetics model, while Fe²⁺ in RGW and SGW, Mn²⁺ in SGW presented more complicated biotransformation process. The results should improve understanding of the transport and fate of common groundwater pollutants in riverbank filtration and other groundwater recharge environments.

Removal of Manganese(II) from Acid Mine Wastewater: A Review of the Challenges and Opportunities with Special Emphasis on Mn-Oxidizing Bacteria and Microalgae

Many global mining activities release large amounts of acidic mine drainage with high levels of manganese (Mn) having potentially detrimental effects on the environment. This review provides a comprehensive assessment of the main implications and challenges of Mn(II) removal from mine drainage. We first present the sources of contamination from mineral processing, as well as the adverse effects of Mn on mining ecosystems. Then the comparison of several techniques to remove Mn(II) from wastewater, as well as an assessment of the challenges associated with precipitation, adsorption, and oxidation/filtration are provided. We also critically analyze remediation options with special emphasis on Mn-oxidizing bacteria (MnOB) and microalgae. Recent literature demonstrates that MnOB can efficiently oxidize dissolved Mn(II) to Mn(III, IV) through enzymatic catalysis. Microalgae can also accelerate Mn(II) oxidation through indirect oxidation by increasing solution pH and dissolved oxygen production during its growth. Microbial oxidation and the removal of Mn(II) have been effective in treating artificial wastewater and groundwater under neutral conditions with adequate oxygen. Compared to physicochemical techniques, the bioremediation of manganese mine drainage without the addition of chemical reagents is relatively inexpensive. However, wastewater from manganese mines is acidic and has low-levels of dissolved oxygen, which inhibit the oxidizing ability of MnOB. We propose an alternative treatment for manganese mine drainage that focuses on the synergistic interactions of Mn in wastewater with co-immobilized MnOB/microalgae.

Study on the Factors Affecting the Start-Up of Iron-Manganese Co-Oxide Filters for Ammonium and Manganese Removal from Groundwater

The high concentration of ammonium (NH₄⁺-N) and manganese (Mn²⁺) in underground water poses a major problem for drinking water treatment plants. Effective catalytic oxidative removal of NH₄⁺-N and Mn²⁺ by iron-manganese co-oxide film (MeO_x) filters was first developed by our group in a previous study. In this study, several identical pilot-scale filters were employed to optimize the start-up process for simultaneous removal of NH₄⁺-N and Mn²⁺ from potable water supplies. Experiments were conducted to assess the influence of Mn²⁺ concentration, Fe²⁺ concentration, filtration rate and dosing time on the start-up period of the filter. Results demonstrated that the ability of the filter to remove completely 1.5 mg/L NH₄⁺-N could be achieved on the sixth day at the soonest and the removal of Mn²⁺ could reach 1 mg/L by the 18th day. Filter R3 feeding with 1 mg/L Fe²⁺, 2 mg/L Mn²⁺ and 3.5 mg/L MnO₄^- during the start-up period exhibited the optimum NH₄⁺-N and Mn²⁺ removal effect. Short dosing time was not conducive to attaining full NH₄⁺-N removal in filters, especially the activity of NO₂^--N conversion to NO₃^--N. The compositional analysis and element distribution analysis results demonstrated that there was an abundance of C, O, Mn, Mg, Fe, Ca and Si across the entire area of the surface of the filter media and the elemental distribution was homogeneous, which was different from the biofilter media. Knowledge-guided performance optimization of the active iron-manganese co-oxide could pave the way for its future technological use.

Distribution and genetic diversity of microbial populations in the pilot-scale biofilter for simultaneous removal of ammonia, iron and manganese from real groundwater

A pilot-scale biofilter treating real groundwater was developed in this study, which showed that ammonia, iron and manganese were mainly removed at 0.4, 0.4 and 0.8 m of the filter bed, respectively, and the corresponding removal efficiencies were 90.82%, 95.48% and 95.90% in steady phase, respectively. The variation of microbial populations in the biofilter during start-up process was also investigated using high-throughput pyrosequencing (HTP). Results indicated that the main functional microbes for ammonia, iron and manganese removal were Nitrosomonas, Crenothrix and Crenothrix, respectively, which was mainly distributed at 0.8, 0, and 0.8 m of the filter bed with a corresponding abundance of 8.7%, 28.12% and 11.33% in steady phase, respectively. Kinds of other bacteria which may be related to methane, hydrogen sulfide and organic matter removal, were also found. In addition, small part of archaea was also detected, such as Candidatus Nitrososphaera, which plays a role in nitritation.

The key role of biogenic manganese oxides in enhanced removal of highly recalcitrant 1,2,4-triazole from bio-treated chemical industrial wastewater

The secondary effluent from biological treatment process in chemical industrial plant often contains refractory organic matter, which deserves to be further treated in order to meet the increasingly stringent environmental regulations. In this study, the key role of biogenic manganese oxides (BioMnOx) in enhanced removal of highly recalcitrant 1,2,4-triazole from bio-treated chemical industrial wastewater was investigated. BioMnOx production by acclimated manganese-oxidizing bacterium (MOB) consortium was confirmed through scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Pseudomonas and Bacillus were found to be the most predominant species in acclimated MOB consortium. Mn²⁺ could be oxidized optimally at neutral pH and initial Mn²⁺ concentration below 33 mg L^-1. However, 1,2,4-triazole removal by BioMnOx produced occurred optimally at slightly acidic pH. High dosage of both Mn²⁺ and 1,2,4-triazole resulted in decreased 1,2,4-triazole removal. In a biological aerated filter (BAF) coupled with manganese oxidation, 1,2,4-triazole and total organic carbon removal could be significantly enhanced compared to the control system without the participation of manganese oxidation, confirming the key role of BioMnOx in the removal of highly recalcitrant 1,2,4-triazole. This study demonstrated that the biosystem coupled with manganese oxidation had a potential for the removal of various recalcitrant contaminants from bio-treated chemical industrial wastewater.

Immobilization of iron- and manganese-oxidizing bacteria with a biofilm-forming bacterium for the effective removal of iron and manganese from groundwater

In this study, three bacteria with high Fe- and Mn-oxidizing capabilities were isolated from groundwater well sludge and identified as Acinetobacter sp., Bacillus megaterium and Sphingobacterium sp. The maximum removal ratios of Fe and Mn (99.75% and 96.69%) were obtained by an optimal combination of the bacteria at a temperature of 20.15°C, pH 7.09 and an inoculum size of 2.08%. Four lab-scale biofilters were tested in parallel for the removal of iron and manganese ions from groundwater. The results indicated that the Fe/Mn removal ratios of biofilter R4, which was inoculated with iron- and manganese-oxidizing bacteria and a biofilm-forming bacterium, were approximately 95% for each metal during continuous operation and were better than the other biofilters. This study demonstrated that the biofilm-forming bacterium could promote the immobilization of the iron- and manganese-oxidizing bacteria on the biofilters and enhance the removal efficiency of iron and manganese ions from groundwater.