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. 2023 Mar 21:19:100177.
doi: 10.1016/j.wroa.2023.100177. eCollection 2023 May 1.

The impact of pH on the anaerobic and aerobic metabolism of Tetrasphaera-enriched polyphosphate accumulating organisms

P Y Nguyen  1 , Ricardo Marques  1 , Hongmin Wang  2 , Maria A M Reis  1 , Gilda Carvalho  1   2   3 , Adrian Oehmen  1   2
Affiliations

The impact of pH on the anaerobic and aerobic metabolism of Tetrasphaera-enriched polyphosphate accumulating organisms

P Y Nguyen et al. Water Res X. .

Abstract

Members of the genus Tetrasphaera are putative polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) that have been found in greater abundance than Accumulibacter in many full-scale enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) wastewater treatment plants worldwide. Nevertheless, previous studies on the effect of environmental conditions, such as pH, on the performance of EBPR have focused mainly on the response of Accumulibacter to pH changes. This study examines the impact of pH on a Tetrasphaera PAO enriched culture, over a pH range from 6.0 to 8.0 under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions, to assess its impact on the stoichiometry and kinetics of Tetrasphaera metabolism. It was discovered that the rates of phosphorus (P) uptake and P release increased with an increase of pH within the tested range, while PHA production, glycogen consumption and substrate uptake rate were less sensitive to pH changes. The results suggest that Tetrasphaera PAOs display kinetic advantages at high pH levels, which is consistent with what has been observed previously for Accumulibacter PAOs. The results of this study show that pH has a substantial impact on the P release and uptake kinetics of PAOs, where the P release rate was >3 times higher and the P uptake rate was >2 times higher at pH 8.0 vs pH 6.0, respectively. Process operational strategies promoting both Tetrasphaera and Accumulibacter activity at high pH do not conflict with each other, but lead to a potentially synergistic impact that can benefit EBPR performance.

Keywords: Accumulibacter; Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal (EBPR); Polyphosphate Accumulating Organisms (PAOs); Tetrasphaera; amino acids; polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Image, graphical abstract
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Phosphorus removal (%) and anaerobic P-release/C-uptake ratio over time in the enriched SBR.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Typical profiles of extracellular P-PO4 and TOC, and intracellular Glycogen and PHA of the enriched SBR during the batch test period. The values are averages of cycle studies in day 49 and day 101. Between the dashed lines, the settling and decant phases occurred.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Batch test results as a function of pH, showing (a) P-release/Carbon uptake ratio, (b) PHA synthesis/Carbon uptake ratio, (c) Glycogen consumption/Carbon uptake ratio, (d) Substrate uptake rate, (e) Phosphate uptake rate, (f) Phosphate release rate.
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