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Activated sludge system microbiology and its relationship with the industrial effluents treatment: The experience of the Cetrel

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to characterize the microbial community of activated sludge in the aeration tanks (AT-2, AT-3 and AT-4) from the Cetrel wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and to correlate it to physical-chemical parameters, as well as to assess the impact of the raw industrial effluent (IE) on the activated sludge community. Additionally, it was verified the relationship between the treated effluent (TE) quality and the biological groups to determinate indicators of the WWTP efficiency. Ciliated protozoa (free-swimming, crawler and sessile) and flagellates were the main biological groups found in the TA. It was demonstrated that high IE-BOD and -COD loads have a negative influence on the system, especially on the ciliated protozoa, which was the best indicator of high efficiency of the WWTP. The AT-2 was the more stable and efficient.