Total Nitrogen Removal Rate Research Articles

Cold temperature increases nitrate accumulation in pilot-scale surface flow constructed wetlands with high rates of nitrogen removal

Nitrogen dynamics were studied over 3 years in pilot-scale surface flow constructed wetlands (SFCWs) treating three strengths of ammonium-rich swine wastewater. A high removal rate of ammonium (1.2–2.9 g m−2 d−1) and total nitrogen (1.5–3.5 g m−2 d−1) was achieved from highstrength wastewater in the SFCWs. Nitrate concentration was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in the effluent than in the influent, and the increased nitrate concentration did not significantly affect ammonium removal in the SFCWs. The effluent nitrate concentration showed annual cyclical changes and could be described using a harmonic regression equation over time (y = a + b sin (2π/365.25 t + c); R2 = 0.152–0.566). The multiple regression equation (R2 = 0.200–0.551) indicated that water temperature and oxidation reduction potential were the primary factors affecting nitrate accumulation in the SFCWs. The abundance of nitrification functional genes (amoA in ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria) was higher in spring and winter than in summer. The abundance of denitrification functional genes (narG, nirK, nirS, and nosZ) was higher in summer than in spring and winter. At cold temperatures (5–10 °C), nitrate accumulated significantly in the water column rather than in the sediments and the potential nitrification rates increased slightly, suggesting the importance of nitrogen transformation in the water column during nitrogen removal. These results are helpful for selecting targeted seasonal intensification strategies to improve the SFCWs performance.

Bioremediation of Pyropia-processing wastewater coupled with lipid production using Chlorella sp.

Pyropia-processing wastewater (PPW) contains diverse organic nutrients and causes environmental pollution. To explore the nutrient removal efficiency and growth performance of Chlorella sp. on PPW, the cultures were conducted in different culture substrates. Results showed that, after 7 days of incubation, the removal rates of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and phycobiliprotein (PP) all reached more than 90% by cultivating Chlorella sp. C2 and C. sorokiniana F-275 in PPW. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies could be over 50%. Meanwhile, the increments of biomass in two tested Chlorella strains were 1.39 and 4.89 times higher than those of BG11 and BBM substrates and the increases in lipid productivity were 1.34 and 10.18- fold, respectively. The C18:3 fatty acid proportions were markedly reduced by 27.89% and 29.10%. These results suggest that Chlorella sp. could efficiently reduce various nutrients in PPW and simultaneously accumulate higher biomass with higher biodiesel characteristics.

Effect of dissolved oxygen concentration on nitrogen removal and electricity generation in self pH-buffer microbial fuel cell

A double-chamber self pH-buffer microbial fuel cell (MFC) was used to investigate the effect of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration on cathodic nitrification coupled with anodic denitrification MFC. It was found that nitrogen and COD removal, electricity generation were positively correlated with DO concentration in the cathode chamber. When total inorganic nitrogen of influent was 202.51 ± 7.82 mg/L at DO 6.8 mg/L, the maximum voltage output was 282 mV and the maximum power density was 149.76 mW/m2. After 82 h operation, the highest removal rate of total inorganic nitrogen was 91.71 ± 0.38%. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) test showed that the internal resistance of the reactor with different DO concentration was related to the diffusion internal resistance. The data of bacterial analysis in the cathode chamber revealed that there were not only ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), but also a large number of exoelectrogens. Compared with the traditional biological denitrification and related MFC denitrification research, this method does not need pH-buffer solution and external circulation device through the anion exchange membrane (AEM). It can generate electricity and remove nitrogen simultaneously, and the oxygen utilization rate in the cathode can also be enhanced.

Optimization of membrane photobioreactor; the effect of hydraulic retention time on biomass production and nutrient removal by mixed microalgae culture

In this study, the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the performance of microalgae membrane photobioreactor (MpBR) inoculate by mixed culture were with examined on biomass productivity and nutrient removal from synthetic secondary effluent. The optimization of HRT was aimed for the treatment of wastewater in MpBR operating at HRTs between 24 h and 72 h with at a fixed sludge retention times (SRT) of 3 d. The volumetric microalgae production rates were obtained to be from 0.118 g L−1day−1 to 0.064 g L−1day−1, respectively at increasing HRT from 24 h to 72 h at the stable conditions. The total nitrogen (TN) removal rate was calculated to be 5.55 mgL−1day−1 and the phosphate phosphorus (PO4–P) removal rate to 0.40 mgL−1day−1 where the highest biomass production rate was obtained at the HRT of 24 h. Although this work showed the potential use of mixed microalgae culture and membrane in both wastewater treatment and microalgae biomass production, it is looked that the treatment of the secondary effluent has not been able to meet the discharge standards according to EU and general directives unless optimization is made. But bioenergy power, namely lipid and protein ratios of dry biomass under the optimum conditions were also determined and lipid content was 8.94% and the protein content was 34%. Today, when there is a global food shortage, the oil and protein ratio in microalgae biomass obtained by treating wastewater is potentially competitive with traditional agricultural products.

Microbial Community Analysis of Different DN and PN-ANAMMOX Coupling Modes for Mature Landfill Leachate Treatment

To promote the application of ANAMMOX process in landfill leachate treatment, a pilot reactor based on the ANAMMOX process was established at a landfill site. In this paper, we aim to further analyze the influence of different coupling modes of denitrification (DN) and partial nitrification and ANAMMOX (PN-ANAMMOX) on the diversity of microbial community. The DN+(PN-ANAMMOX) process could effectively treat the mature leachate. However, with an increase in organic matter in the influent, the oxygen demand of PN zone increased, and the enrichment of Nitrosomonadaceae in the PN zone was limited. The lack of substrate supply for ANAMMOX zone further limited the enrichment of Brocadiaceae as well; thus, the total nitrogen removal rate (TNRR) remained at 0.44 kg ·(m3 ·d)-1. In the DN-(PN-ANAMMOX) process, Saprospiraceae with denitrifying ability was enriched in the DN zone, and the organic matter was gradually degraded and removed; thus, a good low-carbon environment was provided for the subsequent PN-ANAMMOX process. Nitrosomonadaceae and Brocadiaceae were enriched in the functional zones, and the TNRR and total nitrogen removal efficiency (TNRE) of the DN-(PN-ANAMMOX) were further elevated to 0.55 kg ·(m3 ·d)-1 and 94.65%, respectively. Moreover, the direct treatment of mature leachate with 2233 mg ·L-1 NH4+-N and 2712 mg ·L-1 COD was finally realized. In addition, Candidatus Kuenenia was better adapted to leachate and high substrate concentration wastewater, and it became the dominant genus in the ANAMMOX zone.

Analysis of Rapid Start-up and Mixed Nutritional Nitrogen Removal Performance of Complete Autotrophic Granular Sludge

A rapid start of the completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite (CANON) process based on granular sludge and efficient nitrogen removal under mixotrophic conditions are important steps in a continuous flow reactor for CANON engineering applications. In this study, an aged CANON granular sludge was mechanically crushed to 0.3 mm as inoculum in an airlift internal-loop reactor (AIR) to achieve simultaneous COD removal and mixotrophic denitrification of the single-stage granular sludge. The system achieved stable partial nitrification by controlling DO after 26 days of startup. Granulation and anaerobic ammonia oxidation were then promoted by shortening the HRT to increase the ammonia nitrogen load to 5.65 kg ·(m3 ·d)-1. The total nitrogen removal rate reached 58% on the 68th day. Subsequently, the C/N ratio of influent was increased from 0 to 0.25 and 0.5, which promoted the synergistic growth of AOB, AMX, and heterotrophic microorganisms. The removal rates of ammonia and total nitrogen were 95% and 85% respectively, and the removal of COD reached approximately 80%. The activity of NOB such as Nitrospira was effectively inhibited as the COD concentration was increased. q(NH4+-N) and q(TN) were stable at 0.4 g ·(g ·h)-1 and 0.34 g ·(g ·h)-1, respectively, while q(NO3--N) was approximately 0.02 g ·(g ·h)-1. Microbial diversity was observed using MiSeq high-throughput sequencing. It showed that organic carbon had no significant effect on the abundance of Nitrosomomas and Candidutus_Kuenenia, while increasing the abundance of Candidutus_Brocadia and Denitratisoma in the sludge. This study provides ideas for the rapid start of continuous flow CANON granular sludge process to treat wastewater with low C/N ratio.

Bacterial intervention on the growth, nutrient removal and lipid production of filamentous oleaginous microalgae Tribonema sp.

The present study explores the effects of three bacteria, namely Rhizobium rosettiformans, Hydrogenophaga intermedia, Sphingopyxis terrae and their mix culture on the growth, pigment content, nutrient removal, lipid content and fatty acid composition of microalgae Tribonema sp. S. terrae and mix culture did not affect the biomass of Tribonema sp. noticeably while H. intermedia and R. rosettiformans significantly reduce the biomass. The removal rate of total phosphorous (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) were boosted to 98.34% and 94.64% by addition of S. terrae and Tribonema sp., respectively compared to control (90.13% and 86.20%, respectively). Moreover, S. terrae improved the chlorophyll b content significantly in Tribonema sp. to 1.17 mg/g by 18% higher than the control group. Addition of S. terrae and R. rosettiformans increased the lipid content of Tribonema sp. by 21% and 13%, respectively compared to the control. Regarding fatty acid (FA) profile and biodiesel properties, co-culture of S. terrae with Tribonema sp. showed high contents of unsaturated fatty acid (USFA) and C16-C18 FA, plus low saturated fatty acid (SFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) contents that are preferable for excellent biodiesel performance. Hence, the S. terrae intervention has the most significant effect on nutrients removal, pigment content, lipid content and biodiesel quality.

Phosphate recovery and simultaneous nitrogen removal from urine by electrochemically induced struvite precipitation.

The direct discharge of urine into water bodies leads to environmental pollution, and an increase in the water treatment cost, whereas recycling of the nutrients in urine is of significant economic value. A single-compartment reactor was investigated for the recycling of phosphate and simultaneous removal of nitrogen from urine wastewater by electrochemical magnesium induction, and electrochemical oxidation for the removal of residual nitrogen from the supernatant. The results demonstrated that phosphate recovery capacity was greater than 11 mg P cm-2 h-1 at a current density of 15 m A cm-2 and anodizing time of 20 min; the removal rates of ammonium and total nitrogen in the synchronous electrochemical oxidation were 80% and 75%, respectively, at a current density of 45 m A cm-2 and anodizing time of 60 min. The anodizing time and initial pH were determined to be critical control factors in the electrochemical struvite induction and nitrogen electrochemical oxidation. The on-site electrochemical nitrogen oxidation could rapidly utilize the alkaline supernatant following phosphate recovery. Thus, the integration of the single-compartment reactor, electrochemical magnesium dosage, and simultaneous nitrogen electrochemical oxidation demonstrates potential for application to decentralized reactors to treat source-separated urine.

Upgrading fluidized bed bioelectrochemical reactors for treating brewery wastewater by using a fluid-like electrode

Anaerobic digestion has historically shown critical operational limitations for treating industrial wastewater. Our work aims to evaluate the resilience capacity of a novel concept so-called microbial electrochemical fluidized bed reactor (ME-FBR) for treating real brewery wastewater under continuous operation mode over one year period. All assays were run in parallel using a conventional anaerobic fluidized bed reactor (AFBR). The resilience tests were designed attending to the most typical operational problems showed by the AFBR technology in real brewery wastewater treatment plants. Four different stress situations were tested: i) pollutants overloading (as high as 51.2 kgCOD/m3 d), ii) presence of an active biocide in the fed stream (5% Vbiocide/Vreactor), iii) operation of the reactors after long starvation periods (16 days) and iv) operation at low temperature (<25 °C). Our pre-pilot scale ME-FBR outperformed traditional AFBR for wastewater treatment capacity under all stress test regarding COD removal rate, total nitrogen (TN) removal rate and bioenergy recovery (bioelectrochemical-assisted hydrogen generation). Among all stress test, low temperatures and long starvation periods deeply decrease the robustness of both technologies.

Microbial community and function evaluation in the start-up period of bioaugmented SBR fed with aniline wastewater

An enhanced sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system was developed to treat synthetic wastewater rich in 600 mg/L aniline. The aniline degradation efficiency was almost 100%, and the total nitrogen (TN) removal rate was more than 50%. Metagenomics technology revealed the community structure, functional genes and metabolic mechanism during the start-up of the enhanced reactor. Sequencing results showed that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi and Actinobacteria were dominant phylum. The proportion of degradation of aromatic compounds function increased gradually, but the proportion of nitrogen metabolism function changed little. Functional genes involved in aniline degradation including benA-xylX and dmpB/xylE were detected. The functional genes of nitrogen metabolism were involved in complete nitrification, traditional denitrification, assimilation nitrate reduction and dissimilation nitrate reduction. The functional contribution analysis and network analysis showed that the cooperation and competition of Thauera, Delftia, Diaphorobacter, Micavibrio and Azoarcus ensured the effective removal of aniline and nitrogen.

Rapid start-up of anammox reactor using granular sludge supported on activated carbon

&lt;p&gt;The long start-up time and high demand of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) limit the practical applications of the anammox process. In this study, granular sludge supported on activated carbon (AC) was used as seed sludge. The start-up time of the reactor was substantially shortened, and the expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor could be started quickly (in only 17 days). The nitrogen load rate (NLR) increased from 0.61 kg m-3 d-1 to 1.19 kg m-3 d-1, the removal rate of total nitrogen (TN) increased from 78.04% to83.15%, and the final ratio NH4+: NO2-: NO3- was 1:1.33:0.30. Moreover, in the gas analysis phase, the reactor load could be further improved and increased to 1.70 kg m-3 d-1 from the 18th–22nd day, and the reactor run stably. During this period, N2O and CO2 production was 0.8% and 0.02%, respectively. According to the analysis of microorganisms, the main functional microorganism in the reactor was Candidatus Kuenenia. The content of Candidatus Kuenenia increased by 5.45% after the reactor was started successfully. The color of sludge was brick red. This showed that the operation mode and inoculated sludge employed in this study are highly effective for the fast start-up of an EGSB reactor.&lt;/p&gt;&#x0D;

Screening of freshwater oleaginous microalgae from South China and its cultivation characteristics in energy grass digestate

Microalgae biodiesel attracts considerable attention from energy organizations around the world. Lack of high oil-producing oleaginous microalgae is considered as one of the main bottlenecks for large-scale production of microalgae biodiesel. To address this issue, a nitrogen limitation-based method for screening oleaginous microalgae using 24-well plates was developed in the present study. Thirty microalgae strains collected from a subtropical freshwater system of South China were selected and cultivated in bubbling column photobioreactors, with lipid yields as the endpoints. The dry weight (DW) of seven strains exceeded 6.0 g L−1 and total lipid contents of 10 strains were over 40% DW. Coelastrella sp. GN12 was further evaluated as it had the highest lipid yield (4.94 g L−1) and abundant triacylglycerol (95% total lipid). This strain was cultured in various digestates from mono-digested energy grass diluted with BG-11. A ratio of 25% energy grass digestate: BG-11 (v: v) (designated as EG25) and a pure unsterilized energy grass digestate (designated as EG100U) were the most effective at growth and oil accumulation (with total lipid content > 50% DW). Total nitrogen removal rates of EG25 and EG100U were 73% and 57%, respectively, and the strain was even more effective at removing total phosphorus (96% and 94%, respectively). Therefore, energy grass digestate can be used as a substitute medium for GN12, transforming waste into valuable energy sources and achieving the benefits of resource recycling and clean energy production.

Exploring the optimized strategy in the nitritation-anammox biofilm process for treating low ammonium wastewater

The main challenge for achieving the simultaneous nitritation, anammox and denitrification (SNAD) process is to optimize the concentrations of nitrite and dissolved oxygen (DO). This study explored the performance of SNAD biofilm reactor under three operational strategies. At Stage 1, 2 and 3, the average concentrations of DO were 0.7, 2.7 and 5.2 mg/L, respectively. The peak concentrations of NO2–-N in the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) cycle were 5.3, 6.0 and 2.7 mg/L, respectively. The average removal rates of total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) were 0.30, 0.42 and 0.22 kg N/m3/d, respectively. Protein (PN) was the dominant extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) content on the SNAD biofilm. The PN concentration remained stable while the polysaccharide (PS) concentration changed rapidly under different operational strategies. High-throughput sequencing analysis indicated that high DO and long aeration period condition could lead to a slight decrease in the abundances of denitrifying bacteria and anammox bacteria.

Adaptability of Completely Autotrophic Nitrogen Removal over Granular Sludge to Low-Strength at Low Temperature

A single-stage PN-ANAMMOX (PN/A) granular sludge cultured at room temperature was used to investigate the completely autotrophic nitrogen removal efficiency and microbial community structure of low-strength wastewater based on the completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite in granular sludge at a low temperature. The results showed that at the low temperature (15±1)℃, the ammonia nitrogen load was maintained at 1.29 kg ·(m3 ·d)-1, and the ammonia nitrogen concentration in the injection was gradually reduced from 70 mg ·L-1 to 40 mg ·L-1. DO/TAN was controlled at 0.22-0.25. The total nitrogen removal rate was maintained at (85±4)%, and the average TN concentration in the effluent was 8.9 mg ·L-1. There was no significant proliferation of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) during the operation period, and the Nitrospira abundance was less than 1%. Elutriation of the floc sludge and the control of low DO/TAN values can be used as effective control strategies to inhibit NOB proliferation. Through completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite in granular sludge operated under low-temperature and low-substrate conditions, the particle size became smaller, and the color changed from brown red to brown yellow. The total amount of PS decreased slightly, and the ratio of PN/PS stabilized at 2.5-3.0. Planctomycetes and Proteobacteria dominated the community, and Candidatus_Kuenenia and Candidatus_Brocadia were two AMX bacteria in the sludge.

Autotrophic nitrogen removal by partial nitrification-anammox process in two-stage sequencing batch constructed wetlands for low-strength ammonium wastewater

In this study, partial nitrification-anammox process was established in two-stage sequencing batch constructed wetlands (SBCWs) to achieve autotrophic nitrogen removal for low-strength ammonium wastewater treatment. The operational parameters of the partial nitrification process were investigated and optimized, for the subsequent anammox process. The results indicated idle time and reaction time had significant influences to partial nitrification SBCW (WPN). In the WPN with optimal condition (idle time = 7.5 h, reaction time = 16 h), the effluent nitrite to ammonium ratio (NO2−-N/NH4+-N) remained stable at 1.24 ± 0.09, which favored the anammox process. The anammox SBCW (WAmx) was established rapidly within 61 d. The two-stage SBCWs showed high-efficient nitrogen removal capacity, with effluent total nitrogen (TN) concentration of 3.89 ± 0.62 mg/L and TN removal rate of 81.11 ± 2.92 %. Moreover, high-throughput sequencing revealed that Nitrosomonas (37.5 %) was dominant under optimal condition in WPN and responsible for partial nitrification process. Candidatus Brocadia (26.5 %) was enriched in WAmx, undertaking anammox process with synergism of flanking bacteria. This study provides a sustainable alternative for low-strength wastewater treatment.

ANAMMOX-denitrification biomass in microbial fuel cell to enhancethe electricity generation and nitrogen removal efficiency.

The inoculum biomass was collected from a pilot-scale (3 m3 process tank) nitritation-anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) (deammonification moving bed biofilm (DeaMBBR)) reactor demonstrating the highest total nitrogen removal rate (TNRR) of 0.33kgNm-3day-1. This biomass was used for inoculating the anodic chamber of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) to investigate the capacity of DeaMBBR biomass to act as an exo-electrogenic consortia. Performance of MFCs inoculated with ANAMMOX-specific consortia collected from DeaMBBR (MFC-ANA) and another MFC-CON inoculated with a septic tank mixed anaerobic consortium as a control was investigated for electrochemical performance and wastewater treatment efficiency. These MFCs were operated for the total duration of 419days during which regular feed was given and performance was monitored for first 30 cycles and last 30 cycles, with each cycle of 3day duration. The MFC-ANA continuously generated bio-energy with higher volumetric power density (9.5Wm-3 and 6.0Wm-3) in comparison to MFC-CON (4.9 and 2.9Wm-3) during the first 30 and last 30 cycles of operational period, respectively. MFC-ANA also achieved 84 ± 2% and 80 ± 2% of COD removal efficiency and 89 ± 4% and 73 ± 2% of total nitrogen removal efficiency during first 30 and last 30 cycles of operational period, respectively. The improvement ofnitrogen removal and power production in case of MFC-ANA over MFC-CON could be attributed to the ANAMMOX-denitrifiers populations and Trichococcus (14.92%) as denitrifying exo-electrogenic microbes (4.46%), respectively.

Characteristics of rapid-biofiltering anammox reactor (RBAR) for low nitrogen wastewater treatment

This research provides an important approach for rapid treatment of low nitrogen wastewater through anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox), which was realized in a rapid-biofiltering anammox reactor (RBAR). The operation mode of continuous upward flow and gradually shortened hydraulic retention time (HRT) accumulated anammox bacteria effectively in RBAR, where carmine anammox granular sludge and thick biofilm were co-existed, leading the biomass concentration and the specific anammox activity to reach 21.61 gSS/L and 0.82 gN/gVSS·d in the main functional zone. Moreover, the relative abundance of anammox bacteria in the whole reactor was more than 50%, and the relative abundance of Candidatus Brocadia in the biofilm of 20–47 cm zone reached 71.10%. Results showed that the removal rate and effluent concentration of total nitrogen remained stable at 86.24% and 14.20 mg/L (below 15 mg/L) averagely, under HRT of 32 min when the the nitrogen loading rate was 4.86 kgN/m3·d.

Effect of N:P Ratio on Microalgae/Nitrifying Bacteria Community in Agro-Digestate Treatment

Abstract The role of P content on the treatment and valorization of the liquid fraction of digestate, namely centrate, through microalgae-based technologies was evaluated in this study. The performance of four column photobioreactors, which were fed on diluted centrate with corrected (10 mg N/ mg P) and not modified (129 mg N/ mg P) N:P ratio, were monitored and compared. The results demonstrated that P shortage in the centrate affected neither the total nitrogen and COD removal rate nor the volumetric biomass productivity, suggesting that expensive addition of P salts is not necessary to maximize the efficiency of the process. On the contrary, the addition of P to the centrate promoted the ammonia oxidation process as higher nitrite production was observed in the photobioreactors with adjusted N:P ratio than in the ones fed with the non-adjusted N:P ratio. These findings were confirmed by fluorescence in-situ hybridization and quantitative PCR assays, which revealed a higher number of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in the microalgal suspensions cultivated on centrate with P addition. In conclusion, the N:P ratio in the centrate seems to have a role in controlling the nitrification process rather than in the overall nutrient removal rate and biomass productivity of the microalgae-based system.

Micro-electrolysis biological fluidized bed process for coking wastewater treatment

In this study, the internal circulation iron–carbon micro-electrolysis (ICE) method was combined with activated sludge (AS) to form micro-electrolysis biological fluidized bed (MBFB) process for the treatment of coking wastewater with a low carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio. The MBFB process has chemical oxygen demand and total nitrogen removal rates of 92 and 95 %, respectively, which is much higher than those of the ICE process and single AS process. The results of three-dimensional fluorescence spectra showed that the MBFB process can not only remove protein-like substances, but can also degrade fulvic acid-like and humic acid-like substances. Fe2+/Fe3+ and active hydrogen atoms promoted the electron transfer inside and outside the microbial cells, thereby enhancing the metabolism of the microorganisms (such as Acidovorax), which is beneficial to the degradation of organics and nutriments. Therefore, the MBFB process has synergistic degradation properties and is promising for treating industrial wastewaters with low C/N ratios.

The fate of triclocarban in activated sludge and its influence on biological wastewater treatment system

Triclocarban (TCC), a typical emerging contaminant, was abundantly released into environment and frequently detected in practical wastewater treatment plants. However it is also an important material when being added to personal skin care products as a antibacterial agent. In this work, the behavior of TCC in wastewater treatment process was investigated. Experiments showed that ~82% of influent TCC was removed by activated sludge adsorption and its adsorption isotherm was well fitted with Linear model and Freundich model. High levels of TCC had seriously impact on the settleability, dewaterability and extracellular polymetric substance (EPS) of activated sludge, even on effluent turbidity after a long-term exposure. Furthermore, the performance of biological wastewater treatment was damaged by TCC long-term exposure as well. The removal rates of total nitrogen and phosphorus decreased from 91.2 ± 2.1% to 72.6 ± 2.2% and from 94.7 ± 3.1% to 78.4 ± 2.3%, respectively, with TCC level increasing from 0 to 100 μg/L. Mechanism analysis showed that TCC exposure significantly inhibited the relevant biological processes, such as ammonia oxidation, denitrification, phosphorus release and uptake, which were closely relevant to nitrogen and phosphorus removal.