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Review
. 2022 Sep 26;19(19):12191.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph191912191.

A Review of the Role of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) in Wastewater Treatment Systems

Lei Huang  1   2 , Yinie Jin  1 , Danheng Zhou  1 , Linxin Liu  1 , Shikun Huang  1 , Yaqi Zhao  1 , Yucheng Chen  1   2
Affiliations
Review

A Review of the Role of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) in Wastewater Treatment Systems

Lei Huang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

A review of the characterization and functions of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of microbial aggregates in biological wastewater treatment systems is presented in this paper. EPS represent the complex high-molecular-weight mixture of polymers excreted by microorganisms generated from cell lysis as well as adsorbed inorganic and organic matter from wastewater. EPS exhibit a three-dimensional, gel-like, highly hydrated matrix that facilitates microbial attachment, embedding, and immobilization. EPS play multiple roles in containments removal, and the main components of EPS crucially influence the properties of microbial aggregates, such as adsorption ability, stability, and formation capacity. Moreover, EPS are important to sludge bioflocculation, settleability, and dewatering properties and could be used as carbon and energy sources in wastewater treatment. However, due to the complex structure of EPS, related knowledge is incomplete, and further research is necessary to understand fully the precise roles in biological treatment processes.

Keywords: biological characteristics; contaminant removal; extracellular polymeric substances; microbial aggregation; sludge properties; wastewater treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

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