Tributyltin in Wastewater: Influence on the Performance of Suspended Growth Biological Processes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential effect of tributyltin (TBT) on the performance of suspended-growth biological processes. The influence of TBT was evaluated for (i) the endogenous and exogenous respirations of heterotrophic micro-organisms in laboratory-scale batch reactors, taken from a municipal wastewater treatment plant and (ii) chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal, sludge production and oxygen consumption of a pilot-sale membrane bioreactor (MBR) system inoculated with heterotrophic micro-organisms taken from a MBR system. The batch experiments showed that the presence of TBT was likely to modify the activity of bacterial populations in endogenous conditions. The increase in endogenous oxygen needs suggested an increase in the maintenance requirements, essentially to manage the chemical stress induced by the presence of TBT. If the addition of TBT did not perturb COD removal in an MBR system, it limited sludge production and increased oxygen requirements; it is assumed that these modifications were linked with the necessity for the biomass to adapt in this stressful environment, as reflected by an increase in the maintenance requirements. These results emphasised that the respiratory activity of the bacterial cultures was modified by the presence of TBT, in the sense that an excess of oxygen was required to adapt to this chemical stress.