Oxygen microprofiles of trickling filter biofilms

Abstract

Oxygen microprofiles of photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic biofilms of trickling filters from a sewage treatment plant were studied with Clark type oxygen microelectrodes. The oxygen profiles in photosynthetic biofilms exhibited pronounced changes with changing light conditions, and the profiles of both types of biofilm were affected by addition of nutrients. The existence of a 100–500 μm thick diffusive boundary layer in the water just above the biofilm was evident from all recordings. The O 2 gradient in this boundary layer was used to calculate diffusive fluxes of oxygen exchanged between the biofilms and the overlying water phase. The calculated fluxes were compared to the overall oxygen consumption rates measured experimentally and to the photosynthetic activity as measured with the microelectrodes. Approximately 60–70% of the oxygen produced in the algal films during photosynthesis was consumed within the films. At least one third of this consumption may be due to photorespiration. Dark/light and light/dark shifts demonstrated a very dynamic nature of the O 2 status of the algal films, showing an increase from anaerobic conditions to 500% air saturation and vice versa within 25 min. In the same regime, pH profiles showed a similar dynamic change, whereby pH varied between 8.1 and 9.7 in the same period. The data obtained with the non-photosynthetic biofilms show that the oxygen respiration and oxygen penetration are mostly limited by diffusive oxygen transport through the boundary layer. The overall oxygen consumption of the heterotrophic biofilms equalled within ± 10% the estimates made from flux calculations.