Inhibitory Effect of a Surfactant on Pure Cultures of a Filamentous and a Floc Forming Micro-Organism

Abstract

Activated sludge is the most widely used biological process for wastewater treatment. Inorganic and organic compounds are removed by a biotic community in the aeration basin. Problems of these systems are loss of settleability and poor sludge compaction due to excessive growth of filamentous micro-organisms. The filamentous bulking can be controlled by the addition of chemical agents. Strong oxidants, such as chlorine, are utilized to eliminate filamentous bacteria; however, these substances also tend to attack floc-forming bacteria and to cause process breakdown. Besides, chlorine may become hazardous owing to the formation of chemical products as chloramines. Surfactant addition constitutes an interesting alternative for the control of filamentous bulking. In this work the effect of a surfactant Triton X-100 (octylphenol ethoxylate), on the respiratory activity (RA) of pure cultures of a filamentous (Sphaerotilus natans) and a floc-former micro-organism (Acinetobacter anitratus) was evaluated. In the concentration range tested (60-220 mg l−1), the surfactant was observed to exhibit high RA specific inhibition of the filamentous micro-organism with no significant effect on the floc-forming bacteria. Light microscopy observations showed that the surfactant induced cell lysis, leaving only empty sheaths in the case of filamentous micro-organisms. A kinetic equation to predict the microbial RA fraction of a S. natans pure culture as a function of surfactant concentration and contact time was proposed. The effect of Triton X-100 on the inactivation of pure cultures of both micro-organisms was compared to that of chlorine. Triton X-100 results were adequate to eliminate filamentous bacteria emerging as an alternative for filamentous bulking treatment.