A new paper comparing microbial communities in aerobic granular sludge (AGS) and conventional activated sludge (AS) builds on work carried out in a highly successful Business Interaction Voucher  (BIV) funded by EBNet, and a Proof-of-Concept grant from the National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC). Findings included a more diverse microbiome with more filamentous and nitrifying bacteria in AGS, but a similar abundance of phos[hate-accumulating bacteria.
Dr Yongqiang Liu said: “This work began from our EBNet BIV project on nutrient removal. We are continuing to study how microbial community composition correlates with wastewater treatment performance in AGS and AS plants with/without nutrient removal, and if microbial community composition could be used to predict wastewater treatment performance”. Dr Liu leads the EBNet WG on Aerobic Granulation Processes, and is a Co-Investigator on the EBIC Hub in Cluster 3 on biofilm systems.
For more details of the projects see NBIC 03POC20-154 and EBNet BIV202004.
A comprehensive comparison of microbial communities between aerobic granular sludge and flocculent sludge for nutrient removal in full-scale wastewater treatment plants. Pincam, T., Liu, Y.Q., Booth, A., Wang, Y., Lan, G. and Zeng, P., 2024. Chemosphere, 362, p.142644.