Response and self-regulation of PD/A granular sludge to oxytetracycline stress

Abstract

This paper investigated the operational characteristics and self-regulation mechanism of the partial denitrification/anammox (PD/A) granular system under the stress of oxytetracycline (OTC), an emerging pollutant that accumulates in municipal wastewater treatment plants through various pathways, posing significant challenges for its future promotion in engineering applications. The results indicated that OTC concentrations below 100 mg/L intensified its short-term inhibition on the PD/A granular sludge system, decreasing functional bacterial activity, while between 150 and 300 mg/L, PD's NO3−-N to NO2−-N conversion ability diminished, and Anammox activity was significantly suppressed. Under long-term high OTC stress (20–30 mg/L), nitrogen removal suffered, and batch tests revealed significant inhibition of PD's NO3−-N to NO2−-N conversion, dropping from 73.77 % to 50.17 %. Anammox bacteria activity sharply declined from 1.81 to 0.39 mg N/gVSS/h under OTC stress. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) content rose from 185.39 to 210.86 mg/gVSS, indicating PD/A sludge's self-protection mechanism. However, EPS content fell due to cell lysis at high OTC (30 mg/L). The decreasing relative abundance of Candidatus_Brocadia (2.32 % to 0.93 %) and Thaure (12.63 % to 7.82 %) was a key factor in the gradual deterioration of denitrification performance. This study was expected to provide guidance for the PD/A process to cope with the interference of antibiotics and other emerging pollutants (short-term shock and long-term stress).