On-Site Blackwater Treatment Fosters Microbial Groups and Functions to Efficiently and Robustly Recover Carbon and Nutrients

Abstract

Wastewater is considered a renewable resource water and energy. An advantage of decentralized sanitation systems is the separation of the blackwater (BW) stream, contaminated with human pathogens, from the remaining household water. However, the composition and functions of the microbial community in BW are not known. In this study, we used shotgun metagenomics to assess the dynamics of microbial community structure and function throughout a new BW anaerobic digestion system installed at The Netherlands Institute of Ecology. Samples from the influent (BW), primary effluent (anaerobic digested BW), sludge and final effluent of the pilot upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor and microalgae pilot tubular photobioreactor (PBR) were analyzed. Our results showed a decrease in microbial richness and diversity followed by a decrease in functional complexity and co-occurrence along the different modules of the bioreactor. The microbial diversity and function decrease were reflected both changes in substrate composition and wash conditions. Our wastewater treatment system also decreased microbial functions related to pathogenesis. In summary, the new sanitation system studied here fosters microbial groups and functions that allow the system to efficiently and robustly recover carbon and nutrients while reducing pathogenic groups, ultimately generating a final effluent safe for discharge and reuse.

Applications of Up-Flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) and Characteristics of Its Microbial Community: A Review of Bibliometric Trend and Recent Findings

“…Authors agree that microbiota in UASB reactors depends on operational conditions (e.g., temperature) but also on substrate fed. Kuramae et al [ 94 ] focused on the microbial community in UASB reactor fed with blackwater finding a high correlation between the toilet paper and the methanogenic process. They highlighted that the partial degradation of cellulose by Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes present in fed blackwater activated the methanogenesis process allowing the conversion of the cellulose in methane, thanks also to Chloroflexi and Synergistetes presence in the granular sludge [ 94 ].…”

Effects of Low Oxygen Dosages on an Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor, Simulating the Oxygen Load in an Anaerobic Digester-Dissolved Air Flotation (AD-DAF) System

“…The AnMBR was inoculated with approximately 3.5 L of sludge from a pilot-scale blackwater anaerobic reactor located at the NIOO-KNAW facilities (Wageningen, Netherlands). The sludge had a COD of 43.7 ± 3.4 gCOD L –1 , total suspended solids (TSS) of 45.8 ± 0.9 gTSS L –1 and volatile suspended solids (VSS) of 36.0 ± 1.2 gVSS L –1 …”

“…The sludge had a COD of 43.7 ± 3.4 gCOD L –1 , total suspended solids (TSS) of 45.8 ± 0.9 gTSS L –1 and volatile suspended solids (VSS) of 36.0 ± 1.2 gVSS L –1 . 21 …”

Performance of Sewage Treatment Technologies for the Removal of Cryptosporidium Sp. And Giardia Sp.: Toward Water Circularity

“…Due to its origins, sewage has complex physical-chemical and microbiological characteristics (Vera et al, 2016;García-Aljaro et al, 2019;Praus, 2019;Alisawi, 2020). In microbiological terms, the organisms present in raw sewage are mainly intestinal microbiota (García-Aljaro et al, 2019;Kuramae et al, 2021). Sewage contains a great variety of microorganisms that can be classified as harmless or pathogenic (Kuramae et al, 2021).…”

“…In microbiological terms, the organisms present in raw sewage are mainly intestinal microbiota (García-Aljaro et al, 2019;Kuramae et al, 2021). Sewage contains a great variety of microorganisms that can be classified as harmless or pathogenic (Kuramae et al, 2021). Among the pathogenic microorganisms are fungi, viruses, and parasites; this last group includes eggs and larvae of helminths and protozoa.…”